1. adjective /nɪə(ɹ),nɪɹ/
a) physically close.
The end is near.
b) approaching
The two words are near synonyms.
2. adverb /nɪə(ɹ),nɪɹ/
a) Having a small intervening distance with regard to something.
Im near sighted.
b) nearly
...he hears for certain that the Queen-Mother is about and hath near finished a peace with France....
3. preposition /nɪə(ɹ),nɪɹ/
He entered the inn, and asking for dinner, unbuckled his wallet, and sat down to rest himself near the door.
b) close to in time.
Fastening one end of this at that point of the trunk of the tree which was nearest the peg, he unrolled it till it reached the peg and thence further unrolled it, in the direction already established by the two points of the tree and the peg, for the distance of fifty feet ...
4. verb /nɪə(ɹ),nɪɹ/
To decrease the distance to something.
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