Laxi Dictionary

English Dictionary

Define dictionary terms easily in our powerful online English dictionary.

Searching for...

No matching words found

Try a different search term or browse the dictionary

Definition near in British English

near adjective, adverb, preposition

adjective, adverb, preposition
/nɪə(r)/

Near can be used in the following ways:

as a preposition: I lived near the school.I’ll write and let you know nearer the time.

as an adverb: Come nearer, and I’ll tell you the whole story.

as an adjective: I went into the nearest room.A climb in the mountains led to near disaster.

in the preposition phrase near to: Pull your chair nearer to the table.

1

close to someone or something

Example

A group of students were standing near the entrance.

Example

The tornado destroyed two houses near Tulsa.

Example

The shops are quite near.

Example

I slept in the bed nearest the door.

Example

They live in a small cottage 15 miles from the nearest village.

Example

Rosa moved a little nearer to the fire.

Synonyms and related words
local close nearly
1.1

used for referring to the side of something that is the closest to where you are

Example

I got into the near side of the bed.

Synonyms and related words
about across after
Example

Julian was near to panic as he suddenly realized that he was trapped.

Example

People near to retirement need to know their pension funds are sufficient.

Example

They are near to solving the puzzle.

Example

There were rumours that the 66-year-old leader was near death.

3

not long before a particular time or event

Example

It was nearer three than two o'clock when he finally arrived.

Example

I had no intention of making any decision until much nearer the time.

Example

The incident occurred near the end of the war.

Example

The date of the election was drawing near.

Synonyms and related words
before first early
4

very similar to something

Example

What he's saying now is near the truth, but it's still not accurate.

Example

My feelings were nearer to despair than disappointment.

Synonyms and related words
similar like comparable
5

only a little less than a particular amount or number

Example

The temperature that day was near 30 degrees.

Example

The loss was near 15 per cent for the year.

Synonyms and related words
almost nearly hardly
Definition near in British English

Related Words

Words related to near:

a near relative/relation (phrase) a near thing (phrase) the mark (phrase) to someone’s heart (phrase) damned/damn near (phrase) draw (phrase) from near and far (phrase) in the near future (phrase) near (adjective, adverb, preposition) near (verb) near beer (noun) near enough (phrase) near miss (noun) near the knuckle (phrase) near- (prefix) not anything (phrase) not go near () near () so near (and) yet so far (phrase) the Near East (noun)