Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adv. To, at, or within a short distance or interval in space or time.
- adv. Just about; almost; nearly: was near exhausted from the labor; near dead after the assault.
- adv. With or in a close relationship.
- adj. Close in time, space, position, or degree: near equals.
- adj. Closely related by kinship or association; intimate: a near relative; a near and dear friend. See Synonyms at close.
- adj. Nearly occurring but not actually happening: a near victory; a near disaster.
- adj. Just barely avoided: a near hit by the incendiary bomb.
- adj. Closely corresponding to or resembling an original: a near likeness.
- adj. Closely resembling the genuine article: a dress of near satin; near silver beads.
- adj. Closer of two or more: Take the near street and then turn right.
- adj. Being on the left side of an animal or a vehicle.
- adj. Being the animal or vehicle on the left.
- adj. Short and direct: the nearest route to town.
- adj. Stingy; parsimonious.
- prep. Close to: an inn near London.
- v. To come close or closer to.
- v. To draw near or nearer; approach.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Nigher; more nigh; closer: comparative of nigh.
- Hence, without comparative force, and with a new comparative nearer, superlative nearest
- Nigh; close; at, to, or toward a point which is adjacent or not far off: with such verbs as be, come, go, draw, move.
- Nigh, in a figurative sense.
- Nautical, close to the wind: opposed to off.
- Closely; intimately.
- Almost; nearly.
- Into close straits; into a critical position.
- Nigh; close to; close by; at no great distance from.
- Nigh or close to, in a figurative sense.
- Being nigh in place; being close by; not distant; adjacent; contiguous.
- Closely allied by blood; closely akin.
- Intimate; united in close ties of affection or confidence; familiar: as, a near friend.
- Affecting one's interest or feelings; touching; coming home to one.
- Close; not deviating from an original or model; observant of the style or manner of the thing copied; literal: as, a near translation.
- So as barely to escape injury, danger, or exposure; close; narrow.
- In riding or driving, on the left: opposed to off; as, the near side; the near fore leg.
- Short; serving to bring the object close.
- Economical; closely calculating; also, close; parsimonious.
- Empty.
- Synonyms Contiguous, proximate, neighboring, imminent, impending, approaching. Nearest, Next are sometimes synonymous words: as, nearest or next of kin; but specially the first denotes the closest relative proximity, while the second denotes the proximate place in order. Compare the nearest house with the next house.
- To come near or nearer; stand near; approach: as, the ship neared the land.
- To come nearer; approach.
- n. See neer.
- A contracted form of neither.
Wiktionary
- adj. physically close.
- adj. approaching.
- adj. approximate, almost
- adv. Having a small intervening distance with regard to something.
- adv. nearly
- prep. close to, in close proximity to.
- prep. close to in time.
- v. To decrease the distance to something.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adv. At a little distance, in place, time, manner, or degree; not remote; nigh.
- adv. Nearly; almost; well-nigh.
- adv. Closely; intimately.
- adj. Not far distant in time, place, or degree; not remote; close at hand; adjacent; neighboring; nigh.
- adj. Closely connected or related.
- adj. Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; touching, or affecting intimately; intimate; dear.
- adj. Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling.
- adj. So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow{3}.
- adj. Next to the driver, when he is on foot; in the Unted States, on the left of an animal or a team. See Off side, under Off, a.
- adj. Immediate; direct; close; short.
- adj. Close-fisted; parsimonious.
- prep. Adjacent to; close by; not far from; nigh. See the Note under near, a.
- v. To approach; to come nearer.
- v. To draw near; to approach.
WordNet 3.0
- adv. (of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
- adj. giving or spending with reluctance
- adj. very close in resemblance
- adj. closely resembling the genuine article
- v. move towards
- adj. with or in a close or intimate relationship
- adj. being on the left side
- adv. near in time or place or relationship
- adj. not far distant in time or space or degree or circumstances
Etymologies
- Middle English ner, from Old English nēar, from comparative of nēah, close, near.
Examples
“Turkey-Buzzard Tom Bonney -- immediately claimed sanctuary in the jail, on the grounds that they had been near to -- get that; I think that indicates the line they're going to take at the trial -- _near_ to a political assassination.”
“An 'one chair I did see to: right in the bay, near Jennie, I set 'Leven -- I guess with just a kind of a blind feelin' that I wanted to get her _near_.”
“The world in which people were near -- _near_ -- to one another and loved each other, the world Donal had always belonged to even when he was a little boy, she now knew and lived in.”
“_How should all the apparatus of heaven and earth_, _from the farthest firmament to the tender bosom of the mother who nourished us_, _make poetry for a mind that has no movements of awe and tenderness_, _no sense of fellowship which thrills from the near to the distant, and back again from the distant to the near_?”
“Historical Show-man, with such new gifts and arts; a true Magician, who had in his closet a mirror which possessed the property of revealing, not the past nor the present only, but the future, 'with a near aim,' an aim so _near_ that it might well seem 'magical'; and that a cloud was flaming in it, even then, 'which drizzled blood upon the Capitol.”
“But he learned them soon; for Solomon immediately dropped down from the big willow and alighted on the bank near Mr. Frog — altogether _too near_ him, in fact, for the tailor’s comfort.”
“In the rear stands a mash-tub with a sheepskin stretched over it for a drum, and near it is the drummer-boy, a child of six; a bugle, a cornet and a bassoon are laid in a corner, and two or three boys stand near_.) _Sergeant George_.”
Laura Secord, the heroine of 1812. A Drama. and Other Poems.
“Ah! Were you, then, near that brave corps!" exclaimed the other, with something like honest, natural feeling, for the first time exhibited in his voice and meaning; "I honour men who were only _spectators_ of so much courage, especially if they took a tolerably _near_ view of it.”
“Now put a penny somewhere on the label near the center.”
“Grady asked for the same 10-year-sentence Payne had just given Oncale, but the judge imposed a term near the middle of the federal guideline range.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘near’.
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Nycanthro's list
I like words. Have kept running lists for years now. If I'd been born wealthy I'd be a linguist. Or maybe a semi-reclusive yet world-weary linguist-humanitarian-hiphop-icon known for his humility a...
oaktag, backstory, homonormative, gobshite, imagineer, comeuppance, tomfoolery, ersatz, widdershins, gigajoule, oneupmanship, conniption and 40 more...
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Adjectives for XKCD936-compliant passphrases
A list of 2048 common English adjectives that could be used to create plausible, memorable random phrases.
I'm going to use this list in a password generator, inspired by big, small, happy, sad, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, near, far and 19 more... -
preposition
Collection of prepositions! Inspired by AWAD week of 3 - 9 Nov 2008.
pace, maugre, ere, circa, chez, about, above, across, after, against, among, around and 24 more...
ruzuzu "'I am not of a spendthrift nature, Mrs. Cranston, being wholly New England on my father's side and almost wholly Scottish on my mother's. In fact, I am what New Englanders call "near." Schoolboys say "chinchy."'
Mrs. Cranston laughed. 'In Rhode Island we often say "close." I am not ashamed to say that I am fairly "close" in my dealings.'"
--Theophilus North by Thornton Wilder Sep 4, 2010