near

comparative nearer · superlative nearest

1. Physically close.

   Stay near at all times.

   3 more examples

   I can't see near objects very clearly without my glasses.

   At the end of the line nearest the Arch, under a flary light, stood an old bearded man having the look on his face of a kindly but somewhat irritated moo-cow.

   1914, Irvin S. Cobb, Europe Revised

   Without any ceremony the near man let drive at my throat with one of those beastly wavy daggers they go in for.

   1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC

   Synonyms: close · Antonyms: remote

2. Close in time.

   The end is near.

   1 more example

   We're getting near to Christmas.

3. Closely connected or related.

   The deceased man had no near relatives.

   1 more example

   she is thy fathers neere kinswoman.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 18:12

4. Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; intimate; dear.

   a near friend

   2 more examples

   It is a matter of near consequence to me.

   The Besht preached that the simple man, imbued with native faith and able to pray fervently and wholeheartedly with a sense of joy in his heart, was nearer and dearer to God than the learned but joyless formalist spending his whole life in the study of Talmud.

   2017, Velvel Pasternak, Behind the Music, Stories, Anecdotes, Articles and Reflections, page 225

5. Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling.

   a version near to the original

6. So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow.

   a near escape

7. Approximate, almost.

   The two words are near synonyms.

   Synonyms: nigh, quasi-

8. UKOn the side nearest to the kerb (the left-hand side if one drives on the left).

   The near front wheel came loose.

   Antonyms: off

9. datedNext to the driver, when he is on foot; (US) on the left of an animal or a team.

   the near ox; the near leg

10. obsoleteImmediate; direct; close; short.

    Toward ſolid good what leads the neareſt way;

    1673, John Milton, “[Sonnet] [Sonnet] XVII”, in Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions, London: […] Tho[mas] Dring […], →OCLC, page 61

11. archaicStingy; parsimonious.First known use 17th c.

    Don't be near with your pocketbook.

    1 more example

    [T]o let you know, Miss, he's so near, it's partly a wonder how he lives at all: and yet he's worth a power of money, too.

    1782, [Frances Burney], chapter I, in Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress. […], volume II, London: […] T[homas] Payne and Son […], and T[homas] Cadell […], →OCLC

12. not comparablecomputingWithin the currently selected segment in a segmented memory architecture.

    a near pointer

    Antonyms: far

comparative nearer · superlative nearest

1. At or towards a position close in space or time.
2. Nearly; almost.

   I jumped into the near-freezing water.

   5 more examples

   He was near unconscious when I found him.

   I near ruptured myself trying to move the piano.

   […] he hears for certain that the Queen-Mother is about and hath near finished a peace with France […]

   1666, Samuel Pepys, Diary and Correspondence, published 1867

   Sir John Friend had very near completed a regiment of horse.

   1825, David Hume, Tobias George Smollett, The History of England, page 263

   Peter ran after them as fast as his legs would carry him, but at last he had only one of the hares left, and when this was gone, he was very near burst with running.

   1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 169

1. Physically close to, in close proximity to.

   There are habitable planets orbiting many of the stars near our Sun.

   5 more examples

   Ts'ai Ch'ien 蔡乾 was born in 1908 in Changhua near Taichung, Taiwan (Formosa).

   1957, Edgar Snow, Random Notes on Red China, Harvard University Press, published 1968, →OCLC, page 103

   He entered the inn, and asking for dinner, unbuckled his wallet, and sat down to rest himself near the door.

   1820, Mary Shelley, Maurice

   This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   It shied, balked, and whinnied, and in the end he could do nothing but drive it into the yard while the men used their own strength to get the heavy wagon near enough the hayloft for convenient pitching.

   1927, H.P. Lovecraft, The Colour Out of Space

   Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.

   2013 August 16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8

2. Close to in time.

   The voyage was near completion.

3. Close to in nature or degree.

   His opinions are near the limit of what is acceptable.

   1 more example

   There was no way Brín felt anything anywhere near what I felt for him. He saw me as a friend.

   2019, Emma Lea, A Royal Enticement

present singular third person nears · participle present nearing · participle past neared · past neared

1. ambitransitiveTo come closer to; to approach.

   The ship nears the land.

   2 more examples

   We started back in the same conditions, and for part of the journey ran through semi-darkness, but the sun appeared once again as we neared London.

   1964 May, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Modern Railways, pages 331–332

   As he neared a bridge over the East Coast Main Line near Great Heck, he lost control. His Land Rover left the carriageway and veered onto the hard shoulder before biting into the grass verge.

   2021 February 24, Greg Morse, “Great Heck: a tragic chain of events”, in RAIL, number 925, page 38

plural nears

1. The left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc.

   Synonyms: near side · Antonyms: off side

plural nears · alternative neer · alternative niere · alternative neire

1. DerbyshiredialectalrareKidney.

plural Nears

1. A surname.