near

close at hand

within reach; handy. I'm sorry, but your letter isn't close at hand. Please remind me what you said in it. When you're cooking, you should keep all the ingredients close at hand.

See also: close, hand

draw near 

1. and draw near (to someone or something ) Lit. to come near to someone or something. Draw near to me, and let me look at you. Draw near to the table and look at this.

2. Fig. [for a particular time] to approach. The time to depart is drawing near. As the time for her speech drew near, Ann became more and more nervous.

See also: draw

from far and near and from near and far

from all around, both close by and farther away. (In either order.) All the young people from far and near gathered at the high school for the game. The eagles gathered from near and far at the river where the salmon were spawning.

See also: and, far

go near (to) someone or something

to approach someone or something. Don't go near Sue. She's got chicken pox. Now, don't go near the water!

have a near miss

Fig. to nearly crash or collide. The airplanes—flying much too close—had a near miss. I had a near miss with a bike while driving over here.

See also: have, miss

in the near future

Cliché in the time immediately ahead. I don't plan to go to Florida in the near future. Today's prices won't be around in the near future.

See also: future

longest way round is the shortest way home and longest way round is the nearest way home

Prov. It may seem as if it will take too long to do something carefully and according to directions, but in fact it will take less time than doing something carelessly, because you will not have to fix it afterwards. I would advise you to read the instructions before trying to use your new stereo. It takes some time, but the longest way round is the nearest way home.

See also: home, long, round, short, way

near at hand

close or handy (to someone). Do you have a pencil near at hand? My dictionary isn't near at hand.

See also: hand

nowhere near

not nearly. We have nowhere near enough wood for the winter. They're nowhere near ready for the game.

See also: nowhere

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your nearest and dearest  (humorous)

your family When people are stressed at work, they tend to go home and take it out on their nearest and dearest.

See also: and, dear

a near miss

a situation in which an accident or unpleasant situation almost happened and was only just avoided I managed to brake just in time but it was a near miss.

See also: miss

be close to the bone  also be near the bone

if something you say or write is close to the bone, it is close to the truth in a way that may offend someone He said he was only joking, but his comments were a bit close to the bone. Your remark about people who've been in trouble with the police was very near the bone.

See also: bone, close

be close to the mark  also be near the mark

if something someone says or writes is close to the mark, it is correct or nearly correct He says he can't find a job, but I think it would be closer to the mark to say he doesn't want to work.

See also: close, mark

be near the knuckle  (British informal)

if a joke or a remark is near the knuckle, it is about sex in a way that some people find offensive Some of his jokes were a bit near the knuckle and, unfortunately, I was watching the show with my parents.

See also: knuckle

close/near at hand

very near To have a few basic shops and services near at hand is a great thing.

See also: close, hand

so near and yet so far

something that you say which means that you have almost achieved something but that what you still have to do in order to achieve it is very difficult or impossible I've only got the last chapter to write but it's taking forever. So near, yet so agonisingly far.

See be close to the bone, close at hand, be close to the mark

See also: and, far, yet

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your nearest and dearest

your family My wife and dozens of her nearest and dearest are from West Virginia.

See also: and, dear

near and dear to you

very important to you People usually give more attention to the things that are particularly near and dear to them.

See also: and, dear

nowhere near

not in any way It was a long list and it was nowhere near complete. The movie was nowhere near as bad as Erin said it was. Holzman was nowhere near the player Carey is.

Usage notes: used for emphasis

See also: nowhere