nearling

comparative more nearling · superlative most nearling · alternative nearlings · alternative nearlins · alternative nerling · alternative nerlin

1. dialectalNearly; almost; all but.

   Kenda could no longer contain himself. He stepped forward, nearling.

   2023, Lynn Leonard, PIX: The Flight of the Phoenixes

   1 more example

   To be among the mists, the tracks of rain, Nearling the hueless silence of the snow.

   1865, George Smith, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Cornhill Magazine, volume 11; 15, page 357

plural nearlings

1. rareOne who is near.

   Precious children, little gambollers! "farlings" They might have called you once, "nearlings" […]

   1909, The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams: 1909-1939