near

near¹ W1S1 [nıə US nır] adv, prep

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1¦(short distance away)¦

2¦(short time before)¦

3¦(almost doing something)¦

4¦(amount or level)¦

5¦(similar)¦

6 near perfect/impossible etc

7 draw near

8 (as) near as damn it

9 near enough

10 nowhere near/not anywhere near

11 not come near somebody/something

12 somebody will not go near somebody/something

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1.) ¦(SHORT DISTANCE AWAY)¦

only a short distance from a person or thing

→↑close, nearby ↑nearby

▪ They live near London.

▪ I'm sure they live somewhere near here.

▪ They moved house to be nearer the school.

near to

especially BrE

▪ a hotel near to the beach

▪ She told the children not to go near the canal.

▪ I'm warning you - don't come any nearer !

▪ We heard voices as we drew near the village.

2.) ¦(SHORT TIME BEFORE)¦

soon before a particular time or event

▪ I didn't remember to phone until near the end of the week.

near to

especially BrE

▪ I'll give you a ring a bit nearer to Christmas.

▪ They should send us more details nearer the time of the concert.

3.) ¦(ALMOST DOING SOMETHING)¦

almost doing something or almost in a particular state

▪ The work is now near completion.

▪ A lot of the women were near tears .

▪ We are no nearer an agreement than we were six months ago.

near to

▪ He was near to panic as he scrambled out of the building.

▪ She was near to crying.

▪ He seemed to know that he was near to death.

4.) ¦(AMOUNT OR LEVEL)¦

almost at a particular amount or level

▪ Inflation is now near 10%.

▪ He looked nearer fifty than forty.

near to

▪ Unemployment is now near to its all-time low.

▪ Strawberries must come near the top of the list.

5.) ¦(SIMILAR)¦

if something is near something else, it is similar to it

▪ His story was near enough the truth for people to believe it.

near to

▪ They say that love is very near to hate.

▪ It may not be an exact replica but it's pretty damn near.

6.) near perfect/impossible etc

almost perfect, impossible etc

▪ a near impossible task

7.) draw near

if an event is drawing near, it is nearly time for it to happen

▪ The day of his interview was drawing near.

8.) (as) near as damn it

BrE spoken used to say that something is very nearly true or correct

▪ The repairs will cost us £1000, as near as damn it.

9.) near enough

BrE used to say that something is nearly true or correct

▪ It's eleven o'clock, near enough.

▪ All three car parks were full, near enough.

10.) nowhere near/not anywhere near

used before an adjective or adverb to say that something is definitely not true

▪ That's nowhere near enough money!

▪ The job wasn't anywhere near finished.

11.) not come near sb/sth

if one person or thing does not come near another one, it is not at all as good as the other one

▪ None of the other wordprocessing programs comes near this one.

12.) sb will not go near sb/sth

if someone will not go near a person or thing, they dislike or are frightened of them and will not speak to the person or use the thing

▪ He refused to go near a doctor.

▪ He made up his mind never to go near a motorcycle again.

near ²

near² W3S2 adj

1.) only a short distance away from someone or something

→↑close, nearby ↑nearby

▪ It's a beautiful house but it's 20 miles away from the nearest town.

▪ We can meet at the pub or in the restaurant, whichever's nearer for you.

2.) a near disaster/collapse etc

almost a ↑disaster, ↑collapse etc

▪ The election was a near disaster for the Conservative party.

3.) the nearest thing/equivalent to sth

the thing you have that is most like a particular type of thing

▪ He's the nearest thing to a father I've got.

4.) in the near future

soon

▪ They promised to contact us again in the near future.

5.) be a near thingBrE

a) if something you succeed in doing is a near thing, you manage to succeed but you nearly failed

▪ They won the championship, but it was a near thing.

b) used to say that you just managed to avoid a dangerous or unpleasant situation

▪ That was a near thing - that truck was heading straight for us.

6.) near miss

a) when a bomb, plane, car etc nearly hits something but does not

▪ a near miss between two passenger aircraft over the airport

b) a situation in which something almost happens, or someone almost achieves something

7.) to the nearest £10/hundred etc

an amount to the nearest £10, hundred etc is the number nearest to it that can be divided by £10, a hundred etc

▪ Give me the car mileage to the nearest thousand.

8.) a) near relative/relation

a relative who is very closely related to you such as a parent

▪ The death of a near relative is a terrible trauma for a child.

b) sb's nearest and dearest

someone's family - used humorously

9.) [only before noun, no comparative]

a) used to describe the side of something that is closest to where you are

▪ the near bank of the river

b) BrE used when talking about the parts of a vehicle to mean the one that is closest to the side of the road when you drive

≠ ↑off

▪ The headlight on the near side isn't working.

→↑nearly,nowhere near at ↑nowhere

>nearness n [U]

near ³

near³ v written

1.) [T]

to come closer to a place

= ↑approach

▪ She began to feel nervous as she neared the house.

▪ The ship was nearing the harbour.

2.) [T]

to come closer to being in a particular state

▪ The work is nearing completion.

▪ He's 55 now, and nearing retirement.

3.) [T]

to come closer to a particular time

▪ He was nearing the end of his stay in India.

4.) [I]

if a time nears, it gets closer and will come soon

▪ He got more and more nervous as the day of his departure neared.