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\ ˈnir 
\
\Definition of near
(Entry 1 of 4)
near
prepositionDefinition of near (Entry 2 of 4)
: close to
beaches near the city seemed to be near death
near
adjectiveDefinition 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
5 : stingy, closefisted
6a : closely resembling the standard or typical
a near desert
b : approximating the genuine
near silk
near
verbneared; nearing; nears
Definition of near (Entry 4 of 4)
: approach
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Synonyms & Antonyms for near
Synonyms: Adverb
Synonyms: Preposition
Synonyms: Adjective
Synonyms: Verb
Antonyms: Adjective
Antonyms: Verb
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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.
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Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb There was a time, not too long ago, when the Seahawks were near-dominant at home.
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oregonlive, "Seattle Seahawks try to extend road magic against the Philadelphia Eagles in Wild Card playoff," 3 Jan. 2020 People take special pride in the auto industry icon, who is credited with leading a spectacular turnaround at Nissan beginning in the late 1990s and rescuing the automaker from near-bankruptcy.
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CBS News, "Interpol issues wanted notice to Lebanon for ex-Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn," 2 Jan. 2020 People take special pride in the auto industry executive, who is credited with leading a spectacular turnaround at Nissan beginning in the late 1990s and rescuing the automaker from near-bankruptcy.
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NBC News, "Turkish jet firm says employee falsified Ghosn records," 31 Dec. 2019 Here is a list that is nowhere near comprehensive, but a selection of some of the most captivating and heartbreaking of cases to move through the Common Pleas Court in 2019.
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Cory Shaffer, cleveland, "A look back at Cleveland’s, Northeast Ohio’s major court cases of 2019," 24 Dec. 2019 Computer translation is not yet anywhere near good enough for such applications.
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The Economist, "Dubbing is coming to a small screen near you," 21 Dec. 2019 Goodwin was the only Irish guard who was anywhere near good.
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Tom Noie, Indianapolis Star, "Another bankrupt day for Notre Dame at Bankers Life Fieldhouse," 21 Dec. 2019 However, the plane was flying normally and nowhere near a stall, according to investigators.
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Alan Levin / Bloomberg, Time, "Pilot in Amazon Cargo Plane Crash Repeatedly Flunked Flight Tests," 21 Dec. 2019 The acquisition of Carrizo by Callon in a merger-of-near-equals was tweaked in November and the shareholder votes delayed because of investor activism that threatened to scuttle the deal.
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Jordan Blum, Houston Chronicle, "Callon-Carrizo merger closing Friday after shareholders approve deal," 20 Dec. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Preposition In a statement issued near the end of the country’s weeklong New Year’s holiday, Masako Mori, Japan’s justice minister, said officials would investigate how Mr. Ghosn, the former automotive executive, fled the country last week.
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Ben Dooley, New York Times, "Japan Defends Its Justice System After Carlos Ghosn’s Flight," 5 Jan. 2020 At that point, the house was near the end of a two-year makeover.
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Judy Rose, Detroit Free Press, "$999K home on Detroit Golf Club course just got 2-year makeover," 4 Jan. 2020 Now, there’s only the carbon fiber banana boats that set off 40 miles northwest from a beach near the end of the Honiara road on mornings when the weather holds.
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National Geographic, "Logging is corrupting these islands. One village fights back—and wins.," 3 Jan. 2020 The Eagles only score came near the end of the third quarter on redshirt sophomore defensive back Brandon Sebastian's 67-yard return after Cincinnati kicker Cole Smith's long field goal attempt was blocked.
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Fletcher Page, Cincinnati.com, "Desmond Ridder stars, UC football crushes Boston College for Birmingham Bowl victory," 2 Jan. 2020 That number is displayed inside the cockpit near Resilard’s right knee.
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Robert Faturechi, ProPublica, "Faulty Equipment, Lapsed Training, Repeated Warnings: How a Preventable Disaster Killed Six Marines," 2 Jan. 2020 One development that drew multiple postgame questions was the Patriots’ decision to not take timeouts near the end of the first half.
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BostonGlobe.com, "You're using a browser set to private or incognito mode.," 31 Dec. 2019 Dior Spa Cheval Blanc, Paris The latest Dior Spa outpost is set to open in late spring in the Cheval Blanc hotel, located in the first arrondissement near the Pont Neuf.
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Kari Molvar, Vogue, "8 Spas to Seek Out in the New Year," 31 Dec. 2019 An ankle injury in the third week slowed Barkley until near the end of the season, and Engram (foot) and Shepard (two concussions) missed time.
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Tom Canavan, Houston Chronicle, "Giants fire coach Pat Shurmur, keep GM Dave Gettleman," 30 Dec. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective Look for our complete rankings of every pizza sampled in the near future.
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cleveland, "We’ve eaten over 100 frozen pizzas and so far, these are our favorites," 6 Jan. 2020 Is there anything on the horizon, financially, that would make retiring in the near future more risky than not?
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Glenn Ruffenach, WSJ, "Tips if You’re Retiring in 2020," 3 Jan. 2020 The sign was beloved in the neighborhood and regarded by some superstitious fans as a predictor of the near future.
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Los Angeles Times, "Felix, Little Man and other beloved Los Angeles logos," 2 Jan. 2020 Dalton, who's played 132 regular-season games in a Bengals uniform over the course of nine seasons, is presumably going to another team in the very near future.
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Tyler Dragon, Cincinnati.com, "Cincinnati Bengals unbothered by No. 1 pick chatter after Week 16 loss to Miami Dolphins," 24 Dec. 2019 Eliminating this program is particularly troubling as the U.S. health care system is suffering from a diversity crisis with no evidence of improvement in the near future.
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Lashyra Nolen, STAT, "Congress: Don’t eliminate funding for the diversity creating Health Career Opportunity Program," 12 Dec. 2019 As in, don't leave your sweaty fingerprints at a crime scene and don't be surprised if breathalyzers are replaced with sweatalyzers in the near future.
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Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, "Your Sweat Can Give Away How Drunk You Are," 12 Dec. 2019 The six other, younger, members are expected to similarly enlist and take temporary hiatuses from the industry in the near future.
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Tamar Herman, Billboard, "EXO Talk 'Obsession' Album & Future: 'I Hope that the Name of EXO Can Grow'," 12 Dec. 2019 Act now—most of these will be gone in the very near future.
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Michael Desjardin, USA TODAY, "The best Cyber Monday Xbox One and One X deals," 3 Dec. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Oladipo missed the remaining 46 games of the 2018-19 season and, with the 2019 calendar year nearing an end, the former IU star will likely return some time in 2020.
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Akeem Glaspie, Indianapolis Star, "Here are the top 10 Indiana sports stories of 2019," 31 Dec. 2019 Hospice provides pain management, along with emotional support and care to terminally ill patients nearing the end of their lives, as well as their families.
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Erika Edwards, NBC News, "More people are choosing to die at home, instead of in a hospital," 11 Dec. 2019 There was more: Kerbs was nearing the end of his sentence.
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oregonlive, "Killer in dismemberment case confessed to jailhouse buddy. What he didn’t know: It was an ex-cop.," 7 Dec. 2019 With home prices in the Bay Area nearing seven figures, some who can't afford to live on land are settling down on the water, dropping anchor near cities like Sausalito, and living on Richardson Bay, rent-free.
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Fox News, "Californians who can't afford to live on land increasingly turning to water," 28 Nov. 2019 This is the Reds' final game before a timely breather for Klopp's side, with the international break nearing.
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SI.com, "Liverpool 2-1 Genk: Report, Ratings & Reaction as Reds Edge Narrow Victory," 5 Nov. 2019 With winter nearing, Gwet is brewing up a hearty cabin retreat, which promises to prove that cold-weather care runs more than skin deep.
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Fortune, "These ‘Beauty Brunches’ in Prove That Wellness Is More Than Skin Deep," 21 Sep. 2019 Wizards at Knicks: Key injuries Wizards: PF Rui Hachimura (groin) is nearing a return, but remains out.
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Joe Williams, USA TODAY Sportsbook Wire, "Washington Wizards at New York Knicks odds, picks and best bets," 23 Dec. 2019 At the time, Steele's five-year contract was nearing expiration.
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Cary Spivak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Former TV weather anchor Scott Steele charges WTMJ with anti-Semitism in federal lawsuit," 23 Dec. 2019
See MoreThese 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.
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More Definitions for near
near
adverbEnglish Language Learners Definition of near
(Entry 1 of 4)
: close to someone or something in distance
: not far away in time
: almost or nearly
near
prepositionEnglish Language Learners Definition of near (Entry 2 of 4)
: close to (something or someone)
near
adjectiveEnglish Language Learners Definition of near (Entry 3 of 4)
: located a short distance away
: not far away in time
—used to refer to the side, end, etc., that is closer
near
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of near (Entry 4 of 4)
: to come closer in space or time to someone or something
See the full definition for near in the English Language Learners Dictionary
near
adverb\ ˈnir \
\nearer; nearest
Kids Definition of near
(Entry 1 of 4)
near
prepositionKids Definition of near (Entry 2 of 4)
: close to
We'll take a table near the window.
near
adjectivenearer; nearest
Kids Definition of near (Entry 3 of 4)
1 : closely related or associated
a near relative
2 : not far away in distance or time
the nearest exit the near future
3 : coming close : narrow a near miss
4 : being the closer of two
the near side
near
verbneared; nearing
Kids Definition of near (Entry 4 of 4)
: to come near : approach As they neared the burrow Willie … came galloping toward them …— Robert Lawson, Rabbit Hill
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Comments on near
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Time Traveler for near
The first known use of near was in the 13th century
See more words from the same century