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

In lieu of flowers, donations should be made in his name to the Neonatal Care Unit at Winnie Palmer Hospital which was near and dear to his heart after his grandsons spent three months in the unit under their skilled, watchful, and loving care. — Orlando Sentinel, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Deaths in Central Florida: 7/8," 8 July 2018 But that's exactly what's happening right now with the Comfy, a Shark Tank sensation that's garnered a near-perfect star rating on Amazon. — Shanon Maglente, Good Housekeeping, "This Crazy Cozy Sweatshirt from ‘Shark Tank’ Has a Perfect Five-Star Rating," 21 Mar. 2019 Third, Alcantara is just 2.3 degrees south of the equator, a near-perfect placement for slinging satellites into equatorial or polar orbits. — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "Can the U.S. Save Alcantara, Brazil’s Cursed Spaceport?," 20 Mar. 2019 Snyder and his team have been saying for months now that Michigan will have something like 800,000 job openings in coming years and not anywhere near enough skilled workers to fill them. — John Gallagher, Detroit Free Press, "Is Snyder changing game plan when it comes to growing jobs, skills?," 31 May 2018 Primaries can be the most unpredictable because the polls aren't anywhere near as predictive in them (more on that in a second). — Chris Cillizza, CNN, "Tonight's primaries could prove the Trump takeover of the GOP is totally complete," 8 May 2018 The space agency has opted for an approach that encourages commercial activity near and on the Moon. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "Here’s why China’s launch to the far side of the Moon is a big deal," 10 Dec. 2018 But Amazon was a smaller threat then, and the StubHub and Classifieds businesses are nowhere near the size that PayPal was. — Laura Forman, WSJ, "Can Activist Lightning Strike Twice for eBay?," 22 Jan. 2019 The day’s high temperature is expected to be near 77 degrees, with a nighttime low of about 60, according to an online forecast from the National Weather Service in Norton. — Jeremy C. Fox, BostonGlobe.com, "Showers and storms to be followed by cooler weather in Boston area," 11 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Preposition

If that happens, frequent earthquakes might become a concern for people living near them. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "One of the Worst Earthquakes in Korea's History Was Caused by Humans," 21 Mar. 2019 If Minneapolis is serious about achieving its climate goals, then enabling more people to live along transit corridors, near daily destinations, in places where living without a car is a realistic choice, is an obvious first step. — Patrick Sisson, Curbed, "Here’s what a plan to tackle climate change, density, and affordability looks like," 27 Nov. 2018 Up in Ubud, near the top of the broccoli stem, the Dutch chef Eelke Plasmeijer and his Indonesian partner, Ray Adriansyah, own and operate the restaurant Locavore, which earns a regular slot on the World’s 50 Best. — Alex Postman, Condé Nast Traveler, "Finding the Bali You Came For," 16 Nov. 2018 Ninth Step Station is the latest series from the company, blending near-future science fiction with a police procedural. — Andrew Liptak, The Verge, "Two unlikely cops are paired up to solve murders in a war-torn Tokyo in Ninth Step Station," 8 Dec. 2018 Preliminary numbers for 2018 indicate that the overdose death rate may have leveled off earlier in the year, although that would still leave drug overdose deaths at record or near-record rates. — German Lopez, Vox, "Drug overdose deaths were so bad in 2017, they reduced overall life expectancy," 29 Nov. 2018 Both Kovel and Davies note that condition matters now more than ever, as buyers frequently demand near-mint status. — Caroline Picard, Good Housekeeping, "Your Old Christmas Cards Might Be Worth Serious Money," 16 Nov. 2018 Two hours west in Durham sits the Pit, a modern place near downtown where urbanites can choose... — Jess Bravin, WSJ, "Supreme Court to Deliberate Fate of Partisan Gerrymandering—Again," 24 Mar. 2019 The school was founded by Claire Hotchkiss and her husband along with Hotchkiss Industries which seems to run at or near the college. — Tamara Fuentes, Seventeen, "Everything You Need to Know About Beacon Heights University on "Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists"," 21 Mar. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Her output is also the result of a near superhuman ability to run on little sleep. — Samantha Leach, Glamour, "How The Hell Has Danielle Steel Managed to Write 179 Books?," 9 May 2019 The near term goal is to replace half of the Super Hornet fleet, the older half, with the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "After the F-35, the Navy Will Make Its Next Fighter Without the Air Force," 7 May 2019 At Home Advisor Instead of getting physically stationed at the nearest Genius Bars, At Home Advisors connect with Apple users all over the country via phone calls and online chats. — Kathleen Corlett, Woman's Day, "How to Work for Apple Without Leaving Your House," 1 May 2019 But that near-sunrise start allows her some much-needed me-time. — Vogue, "All-Day Style Secrets From Model Carolyn Murphy," 30 Apr. 2019 To identify the location nearest you, check this map tool on the Impossible website. — Caroline Picard, Good Housekeeping, "Is the Impossible Burger Actually Healthy? A Nutritionist Weighs In on the Ingredients," 29 Apr. 2019 Walton’s 246 games in charge were the most by any coach in the tumultuous near-decade since the franchise’s last championship in 2010. — Greg Beacham, The Seattle Times, "Luke Walton out as Lakers coach after 3 losing seasons," 13 Apr. 2019 Google now has a new way of enabling two-factor authentication: using your phone as the near-equivalent of a physical security key. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "You can now use your Android phone as a security dongle for two-factor authentication," 10 Apr. 2019 As Meghan Markle’s due date draws near, fans are eager to see how the Duchess is preparing for the arrival of her first child. — Lucia Tonelli, ELLE Decor, "Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Nursery Could Look Like This," 26 Mar. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Homes in the first phase, nearing completion, are designed... — Nancy Keates, WSJ, "Off Spain’s Coast: 1 Island, 18 Architects and a $400 Million Plan," 25 Apr. 2019 In a lengthy article, Ars captures the state of play in the Japanese launch industry as the country grapples with the rise of SpaceX and nears completion of its new H3 rocket. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "Rocket Report: SpaceX gets top clearance, Europe job cuts, Russian plans," 16 Nov. 2018 The conservative intelligentsia was happy, finally nearing the completion of their decades-long quest to make and keep the high court conservative. — Dylan Scott, Vox, "Republicans don’t care what you think," 6 Oct. 2018 His party emerged with the greatest share of the vote — 28.4 percent as the count neared completion — yet is looking at holding fewer seats in parliament than four years ago. — Fox News, "Sweden joins Europe's move to right over migration backlash," 10 Sep. 2018 As the 20th anniversary of the massacre neared, The New York Times reported that locals in Jefferson County, home to Columbine High School, are still grappling with the trauma of that day, even as copycats have plagued the town for years. — Lucy Diavolo, Teen Vogue, "On the Columbine Shooting's 20th Anniversary, How Do We Make Sense of Senseless Violence?," 20 Apr. 2019 As the season nears its end, two A-list rivalry games tip off Saturday night. — Rachel Bachman, WSJ, "College Basketball’s Perfect Weekend," 8 Mar. 2019 As Windows 10 neared, reports circulated of new updates breaking multimonitor setups with certain Nvidia cards. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Who needs Windows 10 Pro: 5 reasons to upgrade," 5 Mar. 2019 As their travel date neared, their calendars started filling up. — Tamara Abraham, Harper's BAZAAR, "Influencer Diipa Khosla Wore 9 Different Looks for Her 4-Day Indian Wedding," 8 Feb. 2019

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.