near
verb/nɪə(r)/
/nɪr/
[transitive, intransitive] (rather formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they near | /nɪə(r)/ /nɪr/ |
| he / she / it nears | /nɪəz/ /nɪrz/ |
| past simple neared | /nɪəd/ /nɪrd/ |
| past participle neared | /nɪəd/ /nɪrd/ |
| -ing form nearing | /ˈnɪərɪŋ/ /ˈnɪrɪŋ/ |
- near (something) to come close to something in time or space synonym approach
- The project is nearing completion.
- She was nearing the end of her life.
- He must be nearing 40.
- We neared the top of the hill.
- As Christmas neared, the children became more and more excited.
Extra Examples- As she neared the door she slipped and fell.
- As the bus neared we could see someone waving.
- As we neared the island the cloud became thicker.
- He began to worry as the day of their visit neared.
- Her stay in New York was nearing its end.
- It was nearing midnight.
- Many of the teachers were nearing retirement.
- More troops were nearing the besieged city.
- She smiled as she neared the little group.
- We were obviously nearing the airport.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryNear is used with these nouns as the subject:- deadline
- climax
- coast
- completion
- …
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old Norse nær ‘nearer’, comparative of ná, corresponding to Old English nēah ‘nigh’.Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
Check pronunciation:
near