jQuery closest() Method

Last Updated : 07 Jul, 2023

The closest() is an inbuilt method in jQuery that returns the first ancestor of the selected element in the DOM tree. This method traverses upwards from the current element in the search of first ancestor of the element. Document Object Model (DOM) is a World Wide Web Consortium standard. This defines for accessing elements in the DOM tree.

Syntax:

$(selector).closest(para1, para2);

Parameter: It accepts two parameters which are specified below-

para1: This specifies the element to narrate the ancestor search in the DOM tree.
para2: This is an optional parameter DOM element within which a matching element is found.

Return Value: It returns the first ancestor for the selected element.

jQuery code to show the working of closest() method:

Example 1: In the below code, optional parameter is not passed.

html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
 
<head>
    <style>
        .main * {
            display: block;
            border: 2px solid lightgrey;
            color: grey;
            padding: 5px;
            margin: 15px;
        }
    </style>
    <script src=
"https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js">
   </script>
    <script>
        // here is the script code for performing the method
        $(document).ready(function () {
            $("span").closest("ul").css({
                "color": "green",
                "border": "2px solid green"
            });
        });
    </script>
</head>
 
<body class="main">
    This is great-great grand parent element !
    <div style="width:600px;">
        This is great grand parent element !
        <ul>
            This is the second ancestor element !
            <ul>
                <!-- This element will be selected -->
                This is first ancestor element !
                <li>This is direct parent !
                    <span>
                        This is span the child element !
                    </span>
                </li>
            </ul>
        </ul>
    </div>
</body>
 
</html>

Output:

Example 2: In the below code, optional parameter is passed to the method.

html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
 
<head>
    <style>
        .main * {
            display: block;
            border: 2px solid lightgrey;
            color: grey;
            padding: 5px;
            margin: 15px;
        }
    </style>
    <script src=
"https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js">
    </script>
    <script>
        $(document).ready(function () {
            //Here among dom id first ancestor will select
            let item = document.getElementById("dom");
            $("li").closest("ul", item).css({
                "color": "green",
                "border": "2px solid green"
            });
        });
    </script>
</head>
 
<body class="main">
    This is great-great-grandparent !
    <div style="width:500px;">
        div (great-grandparent)
        <ul id="dom">
            This is second ancestor !
            <ul id="dom">
                This is first ancestor !
                <li>This is direct parent !
                    <span>
                        This is span the child one !
                    </span>
                </li>
            </ul>
        </ul>
    </div>
</body>
 
</html>

Output:

jQuery is an open source JavaScript library that simplifies the interactions between an HTML/CSS document, It is widely famous with it’s philosophy of “Write less, do more”. You can learn jQuery from the ground up by following this jQuery Tutorial and jQuery Examples.

jQuery contents() Method

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