approach

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

• intransitive v. To come near or nearer, as in space or time: Spring approaches.
• intransitive v. Sports To make an approach, as in golf.
• transitive v. To come or go near or nearer to: approached the tunnel.
• transitive v. To come close to, as in appearance, quality, or condition; approximate: The performance approaches perfection.
• transitive v. To make a proposal or overtures to with a specific end in view: approached the administration for a raise.
• transitive v. To begin to deal with or work on: approached the task with dread; approached the issue from a historical perspective.
• n. The act of approaching: the approach of night.
• n. A fairly close resemblance; an approximation.
• n. A way or means of reaching something; an access: an approach to the bridge.
• n. The method used in dealing with or accomplishing: a logical approach to the problem.
• n. An advance or overture made by one person to another.
• n. Sports The golf stroke following the drive from the tee with which a player tries to get the ball onto the putting green.
• n. Sports The steps taken prior to executing a competitive maneuver, as by a diver before diving forward from a springboard or by a bowler before delivering the ball.
• n. Sports The part of the area behind the foul line in a bowling alley used by a bowler in delivering the ball.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

• v. To come or go near, in place or time; to draw nigh; to advance nearer.
• v. To draw near, in a figurative sense; to make advances; to approximate.
• v. To come near to in place, time, character, or value; to draw nearer to.
• v. To make an attempt at (solving a problem or making a policy).
• v. To speak to, as to make a request or ask a question.
• v. To take approaches to.
• n. The act of drawing near; a coming or advancing near.
• n. An access, or opportunity of drawing near.
• n. Movements to gain favor; advances.
• n. A way, passage, or avenue by which a place or buildings can be approached; an access.
• n. A manner in which a problem is solved or policy is made.
• n. The advanced works, trenches, or covered roads made by besiegers in their advances toward a fortress or military post.
• n. A stroke whose object is to land the ball on the putting green. It is made with an iron club.
• n. The way an aircraft lands at an airport.
• n. The area before the lane, in which a player may stand or run up before bowling the ball.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English

• intransitive v. To come or go near, in place or time; to draw nigh; to advance nearer.
• intransitive v. To draw near, in a figurative sense; to make advances; to approximate.
• transitive v. To bring near; to cause to draw near; to advance.
• transitive v. To come near to in place, time, or character; to draw nearer to
• transitive v. To take approaches to.
• n. The act of drawing near; a coming or advancing near.
• n. A access, or opportunity of drawing near.
• n. Movements to gain favor; advances.
• n. A way, passage, or avenue by which a place or buildings can be approached; an access.
• n. The advanced works, trenches, or covered roads made by besiegers in their advances toward a fortress or military post.
• n. See Approaching.
• n. A stroke whose object is to land the ball on the putting green. It is made with an iron club.
• n. that part of a flight during which an airplane descends toward the landing strip.
• n. the steps taken by a bowler just before delivering the ball toward the pins.

from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

• To come or go near in place or time; draw near; advance nearer; come into presence.
• Figuratively, to draw near; approximate; come near in degree: with to: as, he approaches to the character of an able statesman.
• To bring near; advance: as, he approached his hand to the cup.
• To come or draw near to: as, to approach the gate.
• Figuratively, to come near to in quality, character, or condition; nearly equal: as, modern sculpture does not approach that of the Greeks.
• n. The act of drawing near; a coming or advancing near.
• n. Access; opportunity or liberty of drawing near; nearness: as, “the approach to kings,” Bacon.
• n. Nearness or close approximation in quality, likeness, or character.
• n. A passage or avenue by which anything is approached; any means of access or approximation.
• n. plural In fortification, the works thrown up by besiegers to protect themselves in their advances toward a fortress. Compare boyau.
• n. In golf, the play by which a player endeavors to get his ball on to the putting-green.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• n. a relatively short golf shot intended to put the ball onto the putting green
• v. begin to deal with
• v. come near in time
• v. move towards
• n. a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others
• v. make advances to someone, usually with a proposal or suggestion
• n. the event of one object coming closer to another
• n. the act of drawing spatially closer to something
• n. the temporal property of becoming nearer in time
• n. ideas or actions intended to deal with a problem or situation
• n. a close approximation
• n. a way of entering or leaving
• v. come near or verge on, resemble, come nearer in quality, or character
• n. the final path followed by an aircraft as it is landing