1
: one living or located near another
had lunch with her next-door neighbor
2
: fellow man
thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself—
Matthew 19:19 (King James Version)
Matthew 19:19 (King James Version)
: being immediately adjoining or relatively near
Synonyms
Examples of neighbor in a Sentence
Noun
We invited our friends and neighbors.
Canada is a neighbor of the U.S.
Venus is Earth's nearest neighbor.
Verb
the baseball field neighbors a parking lot
Recent Examples on the WebKoh Ewe, TIME, 19 Apr. 2024
Jorgenson said the community and neighbors have overall been generally supportive of and excited about the project.
—Bill Lukitsch, Kansas City Star, 19 Apr. 2024
For the past decade, as Wisconsin’s neighbors have legalized marijuana one by one, the debate about pot has raged in Madison without resolution.
—John Diedrich, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Ashley Okwuosa, The Examination | Amy Yurkanin, Al.com, Journal Sentinel, 18 Apr. 2024
On this sunny weekday afternoon, the area isn’t quite swarmed, but it is consistently occupied with a new group of fans and an increasing stream of local journalists arriving every few minutes, incidentally obstructing traffic and drawing forlorn looks from the neighbors.
—Rachel Handler, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2024
Ofelia Garcia, 81, said many of her friends and neighbors have died of thyroid cancer.
—Silvia Foster-Frau, Washington Post, 18 Apr. 2024
The corner building also goes by the address of 1007 Seventh St.
Located in the Merchant Street Historic District, the structure neighbors Golden 1 Center and Downtown Commons.
—Hanh Truong, Sacramento Bee, 18 Apr. 2024
The banal life of a middle-aged empty nester is violently shaken in the blink of an eye when hard-partying — and potentially dangerous — new neighbors move in next door.
—Jack Dunn, Variety, 17 Apr. 2024
And unlike Washington’s prior interventions to make peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the United States has no leverage at all against Hamas, a terrorist organization that is still holding upward of 100 hostages, including a handful of Americans.
—Karen Deyoung, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2024
Amy Dickinson, Chicago Tribune, 17 Nov. 2022
Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Apr. 2024
So far, more than 800 people have temporarily relocated to neighboring Tagulandang Island, and no deaths or injuries have been reported.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Apr. 2024
Morrow also sees a lot of potential in neighboring Lake County.
—Elycia Rubin, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Apr. 2024
Hundreds of flights have been canceled at Dubai’s busy international airport, and at least 18 people have died in neighboring Oman.
—Amit Katwala, WIRED, 17 Apr. 2024
Dubai faced torrential downpours on Tuesday, with flooding shutting down much of the city, including schools and its major airport—killing at least one man whose car was swept away as well as at least 18 others in neighboring Oman, including a bus full of schoolchildren.
—Koh Ewe, TIME, 17 Apr. 2024
In neighboring Oman, storms and heavy rain in recent days killed 10 schoolchildren and an adult driver in a vehicle that was overtaken by floodwaters, according to the AP.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 17 Apr. 2024
For more than two years, as this country of 44 million people has fought off an all-out invasion by neighboring Russia, a spirit of stubborn optimism prevailed even amid the most frightening moments.
—Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Alternatively, visitors can walk by to see the exterior and enjoy a bird’s-eye view of Soho House from a neighboring rooftop bar.
—Kayla Keegan, Peoplemag, 6 Apr. 2024
Noun
The apparent Israeli retaliation comes just days after Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel over the weekend, most of which were intercepted by Israel’s defense systems as well as those of its allies and neighbors.
—Koh Ewe, TIME, 19 Apr. 2024
Jorgenson said the community and neighbors have overall been generally supportive of and excited about the project.
—Bill Lukitsch, Kansas City Star, 19 Apr. 2024
For the past decade, as Wisconsin’s neighbors have legalized marijuana one by one, the debate about pot has raged in Madison without resolution.
—John Diedrich, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Ashley Okwuosa, The Examination | Amy Yurkanin, Al.com, Journal Sentinel, 18 Apr. 2024
On this sunny weekday afternoon, the area isn’t quite swarmed, but it is consistently occupied with a new group of fans and an increasing stream of local journalists arriving every few minutes, incidentally obstructing traffic and drawing forlorn looks from the neighbors.
—Rachel Handler, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2024
Ofelia Garcia, 81, said many of her friends and neighbors have died of thyroid cancer.
—Silvia Foster-Frau, Washington Post, 18 Apr. 2024
The corner building also goes by the address of 1007 Seventh St.
Located in the Merchant Street Historic District, the structure neighbors Golden 1 Center and Downtown Commons.
—Hanh Truong, Sacramento Bee, 18 Apr. 2024
The banal life of a middle-aged empty nester is violently shaken in the blink of an eye when hard-partying — and potentially dangerous — new neighbors move in next door.
—Jack Dunn, Variety, 17 Apr. 2024
And unlike Washington’s prior interventions to make peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors, the United States has no leverage at all against Hamas, a terrorist organization that is still holding upward of 100 hostages, including a handful of Americans.
—Karen Deyoung, Washington Post, 6 Apr. 2024
Adjective
Some non-neighbor friends are appalled.
—Amy Dickinson, Chicago Tribune, 17 Nov. 2022
Verb
North County, though, faces its own critical moment with local health care services as both Tri-City, and neighboring Palomar Health, are currently weathering severe financial headwinds.
—Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Apr. 2024
So far, more than 800 people have temporarily relocated to neighboring Tagulandang Island, and no deaths or injuries have been reported.
—Christian Thorsberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Apr. 2024
Morrow also sees a lot of potential in neighboring Lake County.
—Elycia Rubin, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Apr. 2024
Hundreds of flights have been canceled at Dubai’s busy international airport, and at least 18 people have died in neighboring Oman.
—Amit Katwala, WIRED, 17 Apr. 2024
Dubai faced torrential downpours on Tuesday, with flooding shutting down much of the city, including schools and its major airport—killing at least one man whose car was swept away as well as at least 18 others in neighboring Oman, including a bus full of schoolchildren.
—Koh Ewe, TIME, 17 Apr. 2024
In neighboring Oman, storms and heavy rain in recent days killed 10 schoolchildren and an adult driver in a vehicle that was overtaken by floodwaters, according to the AP.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 17 Apr. 2024
For more than two years, as this country of 44 million people has fought off an all-out invasion by neighboring Russia, a spirit of stubborn optimism prevailed even amid the most frightening moments.
—Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Alternatively, visitors can walk by to see the exterior and enjoy a bird’s-eye view of Soho House from a neighboring rooftop bar.
—Kayla Keegan, Peoplemag, 6 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'neighbor.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Neighbor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neighbor. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
neighbor
1 of 2 noun
neigh·bor
ˈnā-bər 
1
: a person who lives near another
2
: a person or thing located near another
Canada is a neighbor of the U.S.
3
: a fellow human being
neighbor
2 of 2 verb
neighbored; neighboring
-b(ə-)riŋ
: to be next to or near to
neighboring towns
Etymology
Noun
Old English nēahgebūr "neighbor," from nēah "near" + gebūr "dweller" — related to near, nigh
Word Origin
The words near and nigh are both related to—and have the same meaning as—the Old English word nēah. Another word which can be traced, at least in part, to nēah is neighbor. The combination of nēah, meaning "near," and gebūr, meaning "dweller," produced the Old English word nēahgebūr. This word was used for "a person living near another." The pronunciation and spelling of nēahgebūr has changed over the centuries to give us neighbor, but the word's basic meaning has remained the same.
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