near

near is on the Basic English 850 List.

natural - near - necessary

near is one of the 1000 most common headwords.

nature - near - necessary

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA ^(key): /nɪə/, SAMPA: /nI@/
• (US) IPA ^(key): /nɪɚ/, SAMPA: /nI@`/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (UK)

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Preposition

Preposition near

1. With a small distance between; close.

   The end is near.

   She lives near me.

   The house is near the beach.

Adjective

Positive near

Comparative nearer

Superlative nearest

1. Almost.

   It was a near miss, but the car didn't hit us.

2. Close.

   The nearest thing to me is my family.

   We'll be meeting again in the near future.

Synonyms

• close
• close to
• close by
• by
• next to

Antonyms

• remote
• distant
• far from
• far away from

Related words

• nearby
• nearly

Verb

Plain form near

Third-person singular nears

Past tense neared

Past participle neared

Present participle nearing

1. To come close to, approach.

   We neared the beach.

Synonyms

• approach

Antonyms

• depart
• distance
• leave