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   near

   /nɪə/

   adverb

   • 1. at or to a short distance away; nearby: "a bomb exploded somewhere near" Similar close byclosenearbyclose/near at handnot far off/awayin the neighbourhoodin the vicinityat handwithin reachwithin close rangeon the doorstepwithin earshotwithin sighta stone's throw awayat close quartersalongsideinformal:within spitting distancea hop, skip, and a jump awaywithin sniffing distancearchaic:nighOpposite far away
   • 2. a short time away in the future: "his retirement was drawing near"
   • 3. almost: "a near perfect fit" Similar almostjust aboutnearlypracticallyvirtuallyall butliterary:well-nigh
   • 4. nearly: archaic, dialect "I near fell out of the chair" Similar almostjust aboutnearlypracticallyvirtuallyall butliterary:well-nigh

   preposition

   • 1. at or to a short distance away from (a place): "the car park near the sawmill"
   • 2. a short period of time from: "near the end of the war"
   • 3. close to (a state); verging on: "she gave a tiny smile, brave but near tears"
   • ▪ a small amount below (another amount): "temperatures near 2 million degrees"
   • 4. similar to: "a shape near to the original"

   adjective

   • 1. located a short distance away: "a large house in the near distance" Similar closenearbynot far off/awayclose/near at handat handa stone's throw awaywithin reachwithin rangeaccessiblehandyconvenientlocalneighbouringadjacentnext-dooradjoiningborderingabuttingcontiguousproximateinformal:within spitting distanceOpposite far
   • 2. only a short time ahead: "the conflict is unlikely to be resolved in the near future" Similar imminentforthcomingin the offingclose/near at handat hand(just) round the cornerapproachingimpendingupcomingcomingloomingOpposite distantremote
   • 3. similar: "walking in these shoes is the nearest thing to floating on air"
   • ▪ close to being (the thing mentioned): "his state of near despair" Similar narrowcloseby a hair's breadthinformal:by a whisker
   • ▪ having a close family connection: "the loss of a child or other near relative" Similar closely relatedcloserelatedconnectedOpposite distant
   • 4. located on the nearside of a vehicle: "the near right-hand end window of the caravan"
   • 5. (of a person) mean; miserly. archaic Similar miserlyniggardlyclose-fistedpenny-pinchingcheese-paringungenerouspenuriousilliberalclosegraspingScrooge-likestintingsparingfrugalmeaninformal:tight-fistedstingytightmingymoney-grubbingskinflintycheapvulgar slang:tight-arsedtight as a duck's arsetight-assed

   verb

   • 1. come near to; approach: "soon the cab would be nearing Oxford Street" Similar approachdraw near/nearer toget near/nearer toget close/closer tocome towardsmove towardsadvance towardsclose in onverge onborder onapproachget close toapproximate to

   Word Origin Middle English: from Old Norse nær ‘nearer’, comparative of ná, corresponding to Old Englishnēah ‘nigh’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. nearish adjective

   Scrabble Points: 4

   • N

     1

   • E

     1

   • A

     1

   • R

     1

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