near

adverb

\ ˈnir

Definition of near

(Entry 1 of 4)

1 : at, within, or to a short distance or time sunset was drawing near

2 : almost, nearly was near dead

3 : in a close or intimate manner : closely near related

4 archaic : in a frugal manner

near

preposition

Definition of near (Entry 2 of 4)

: close to beaches near the city seemed to be near death

near

adjective

Definition of near (Entry 3 of 4)

1a : not far distant in time, place, or degree in the near future

b : almost happening : narrowly missed or avoided a near win in the primary a near midair collision

c : nearly not happening a near escape

2 : closely related or intimately associated her nearest and dearest friend

3a : being the closer of two the near side

b : being the left-hand one of a pair the near wheel of a cart

4 : direct, short the nearest road

5 : stingy, closefisted

6a : closely resembling the standard or typical a near desert

b : approximating the genuine near silk

near

verb

neared; nearing; nears

Definition of near (Entry 4 of 4)

: approach

Other Words from near Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about near

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Synonyms & Antonyms for near

Synonyms: Adverb

around, by, close, hard, in, nearby, nigh

Synonyms: Preposition

about, around, by, next to, nigh

Synonyms: Adjective

closer, hither, nigher, this

Synonyms: Verb

approach, belly up, close, close in, come up, draw on, nigh

Antonyms: Adjective

far, farther, further, opposite, other, that

Antonyms: Verb

back (up or away), recede, retire, retreat, withdraw

Examples of near in a Sentence

Adverb

The plant was near dead when I got it. as the campers grew cold, so they gravitated nearer to the campfire

Preposition

I left the box near the door. The cat won't go near fire. There are several beaches near here. She came home near midnight. We feared he was near death.

Adjective

The nearest grocery store is three blocks away. The near side headlight is out.

Verb

As the date of the performance neared, we grew more and more anxious. He always cheers up when baseball season nears. The airplane began to descend as it neared the island. He must be nearing 80 years of age. The negotiators were nearing a decision.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb

The former party boy, who, before his engagement to Meghan Markle, often made tabloid headlines for his devilish romps near and far (in Las Vegas, to be exact), seems to have turned a new leaf. — Jenna Rennert, Vogue, "All the Ways Meghan Markle Has Transformed Prince Harry’s Bad Boy Health Habits," 4 Jan. 2019 Options markets show investors rushing for protection, but not yet anywhere near as much as in 2016. — James Mackintosh, WSJ, "Markets Corrected Investor Mistakes This Year, And it Hurts," 20 Dec. 2018 Our 25 destinations include places near and far, hot and cold, laid-back and anything but. — Klara Glowczewska, Town & Country, "The Best Places to Travel in 2019," 7 Dec. 2018 These are noncontract practices after all and defensive players know not to go anywhere near the quarterback. — Jeff Zrebiec, baltimoresun.com, "Ravens waiting on young pass rushers to take big step forward," 30 May 2018 But by the numbers alone, she's struggled to receive anywhere near the same level of attention of commercial success as her peers. — Jon Bernstein, GQ, "Ashley Monroe Is the Beating Heart of Old-School Country," 8 May 2018 According to a Bloomberg report, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also reiterated the illegality of Vietnamese financial institutions going anywhere near cryptocurrencies. — David Meyer, Fortune, "Vietnam Is Outraged Over a $658 Million Cryptocurrency Scam," 12 Apr. 2018 But Thursday's flooding shouldn't be anywhere near as dangerous. — Thomas Novelly, The Courier-Journal, "The Ohio River is set to flood again, but don't panic — it shouldn't be too bad," 4 Apr. 2018 View this post on Instagram 🎶Faithful friends who are dear to us... will be near to us once more🎶 #ALegendaryChristmas comes to NBC on Wednesday, November 28! — Katherine J. Igoe, Marie Claire, "Chrissy Teigen Grills Michael B. Jordan on His Dating Habits," 21 Nov. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Preposition

The metal craftsman made famous by Chip and Joanna Gaines’s show, Fixer Upper, has been selling his signs and home decor from a 36-foot-long trailer located in a parking lot near the Gaineses’ Magnolia Market. — Megan Stein, Country Living, "Jimmy Don Holmes Is Getting His Own Store Across from Chip and Joanna's Magnolia Market," 29 Jan. 2019 Every year, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge typically celebrate Kate's birthday with close friends at their Norfolk home near the Queen's Sandringham estate (where the whole royal family spends Christmas together). — Rachel Epstein, Marie Claire, "Why Meghan and Harry Reportedly Didn't Attend Kate's Birthday Celebrations," 27 Jan. 2019 These dosages are pretty standard in the consumer CBD industry and, per the research available, nowhere near the doses proven to be effective in clinical trials. — Dan Nosowitz, Vox, "The super-popular cannabis compound, explained.," 1 Nov. 2018 The results were very surprising, given that the couple sent home earned an impressive 27 out of 30 – nowhere near the bottom of the leaderboard. — Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, "‘Dancing with the Stars’ Fans Are Livid at Bobby Bones and Joe Amabile After Last Night," 16 Oct. 2018 The Palace announced yesterday afternoon that the Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh had been involved in a road traffic accident near Sandringham Estate. — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "Prince Philip Went to the Hospital Following Car Accident, Buckingham Palace Reveals," 18 Jan. 2019 There didn’t seem to be any distortion near the small portion of the screen with the most physical bend, either. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Victory, Royole: The FlexPai is the first folding phone we've seen," 10 Jan. 2019 WireGuard also still offers near-magical connection times for those who have to make and break their VPN connections frequently. — Jim Salter, Ars Technica, "Testing WireGuard with an early-adopter VPN service," 11 Dec. 2018 Jayme Closs has been missing since sheriff’s deputies responding to a 911 call early on the morning of Oct. 15 found the door to her family’s home near Barron kicked in and her parents, James and Denise Closs, dead inside. — Jeff Baenen, The Seattle Times, "Authorities assess items found in search for missing girl," 23 Oct. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Earlier that year, the United Kingdom's Airprox air safety board issued an incident report on a near-miss in which a quadcopter drone passed within 20 feet of a landing Airbus A319 at Heathrow. — Sean Gallagher, Ars Technica, "I’ll be drone for Christmas: London airport closed for day by drone harassment," 20 Dec. 2018 The past two decades have seen a roll call of near-miss catastrophes. — Ron Klain, Vox, "A pandemic killing tens of millions of people is a real possibility — and we are not prepared for it," 15 Oct. 2018 But the near miss, which would have sparked a constitutional crisis three months ahead of a presidential election, demonstrates the fragility of Brazil’s recent achievements in institution-building. — Mary Anastasia O’grady, WSJ, "Rule of Law Wins Again in Brazil," 15 July 2018 The narrative drive lost some energy, as plot twists were recycled, and as the near misses and close calls piled up. — Matthew Gilbert, BostonGlobe.com, "There’s Emmy drama in the face-off between two of this year’s very best," 12 July 2018 The Scene in England 72’: Sweden Threatens Sweden breaks, and a near miss! John Guidetti crosses, and Emil Berg has time to stop it, turn and shoot. — Andrew Keh, New York Times, "England Takes Another Step Toward Bringing ‘It’ Home," 8 July 2018 But here's the catch: Each catch and even the near-misses are signs of how far DeShields' defense has come since his rookie season with the Texas Rangers. — Jeff Wilson, star-telegram, "'The wall and I have a very good relationship'," 29 June 2018 One such mission, designed by Lunine and his colleagues and called the Enceladus Life Finder, could have flown in the near future. — National Geographic, "Right Stuff for Life Found on Small Saturn Moon," 27 June 2018 Earth Treks and Union Craft Brewing opened this month, while local businesses including the Baltimore Whiskey Co., Vent Coffee Roasters and others plan to open in the near future. — Wesley Case, baltimoresun.com, "The Charmery to open its 'Ice Cream Factory' at Union Collective next week," 25 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The slowdown flies in the face of views investors held just months ago, when many expected European growth to pick up in 2019, giving the ECB a clearer path to raise rates as the Federal Reserve neared the end of its own monetary tightening cycle. — Ira Iosebashvili, WSJ, "Euro Hits Lowest Level in Three Weeks," 24 Jan. 2019 Chelsea have officially sacked Antonio Conte ahead of hiring new manager Maurizio Sarri as the Stamford Bridge saga nears a welcome end after dragging on for several weeks. — SI.com, "Chelsea Officially Sack Antonio Conte Ahead of Announcing Maurizio Sarri Appointment," 13 July 2018 As the World Cup nears its end, a carbohydrate rinse, manufactured by a New York company called Unit Nutrition, has become commercially available. — New York Times, "That Spitting Thing at the World Cup? It’s Probably ‘Carb Rinsing’," 11 July 2018 As the scrimmage Monday neared its end, a player fell to the floor, leaving a slick spot of sweat on the court. — Mike Sielski, Philly.com, "The Sixers worked out the best player at his position in college hoops. Did anyone care? | Mike Sielski," 19 June 2018 Though necessary and consciousness-raising, the news stories have been scary for me as a black woman who still very much wants to have children but is nearing the end of my fertility. — Danielle Jackson, Longreads, "A Frustrating Year of Reporting on Black Maternal Health," 14 June 2018 As Wednesday’s council meeting neared its end, a city clerk’s office employee announced the proposal would be considered by the Health Committee. — John Byrne, chicagotribune.com, "Aldermen want hearings about lead in Chicago water, but an Emanuel ally sidelines them for now," 18 Apr. 2018 Rocket Lab is nearing the company's third orbital launch of the year and fourth overall flight of its Electron rocket. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "Rocket Report: Firefly to the Moon, SpaceX makes a splash, H3 nets a customer," 7 Dec. 2018 The campaign is nearing its five million dollar goal with a huge chunk of that coming from the city of Webster, the Houston suburb nearby Johnson Space Center. — Matt Blitz, Popular Mechanics, "Houston, We Have a Resurrection: How Mission Control Came Back from the Brink," 27 Nov. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'near.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.