An apparatus for dispensing flowable substances, having a nozzle having an exit opening for dispensing the substances from the nozzle, and a closure part movable by a control element, disposed outside of the nozzle, and configured to release the exit opening and close the exit opening, in the region of a closure part surface that faces the nozzle end. The closure part surface is delimited, in the movement direction of the closure part from the open position to the closed position, by a leading edge, in the leading direction. The closure part surface is disposed next to the nozzle and at a level upstream from the exit opening, with reference to the flow direction of the substances through the nozzle, in the open position. The closure part can be moved from the open position to the closed position by the control element, such that the leading edge of the closure part surface is moved past the free nozzle end.