Verb

(es)

To come or go near, in place or time; to draw nigh; to advance nearer.

* 1769 , Oxford Standard text, , xi, 20,

And if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall?

* 1769 , Oxford Standard text, , x, 25,

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching .

(figuratively) To draw near, in a figurative sense; to make advances; to approximate.

as he approaches to the character of the ablest statesman.

* 1839 , , A Tour in Sweden in 1838 , page 371,

Without these incentives to industry the Norwegian would be like the Laplander, without industry and civilisation ; and the nearer he approaches' to the ''beau idéal'' of those political economists — to the state of being without a taste for these foreign and expensive luxuries — the nearer he ' approaches to the condition of the Laplander in the comforts and enjoyments of life.

* 1898 , , The Works , Volume 11, 2006, Elibron Classics Replica Edition, page 205,

In this respect, the only books which approach to its excellence are Gulliver's Travels and Robinson Crusoe.

To come near to in place, time, character or value; to draw nearer to.

He was an admirable poet, and thought even to have approached Homer. -- .

"Would counsel please approach the bench?" asked the judge.

to approach the city

He approached the age of manhood.

Don't approach that house.

* 1831 , , Volume 1, The American Redstart,

When one approaches the nest of this species, the male exhibits the greatest anxiety respecting its safety, passes and repasses, fluttering and snapping its bill within a few feet, as if determined to repel the intruder.

* 1867 , , Chapter 53: And Last,

Removing with him and the old housekeeper to within a mile of the parsonage-house, where his dear friends resided, he gratified the only remaining wish of Oliver's warm and earnest heart, and thus linked together a little society, whose condition approached as nearly to one of perfect happiness as can ever be known in this changing world.

* 1898 , , Book 1, Chapter 1: The Eve of the War,

Its physical condition is still largely a mystery, but we know now that even in its equatorial region the midday temperature barely approaches that of our coldest winter.

* 1911 [1904], , Chapter III,

If a variable $v$ takes on successively a series of values that approach' nearer and nearer to a constant value $l$ in such a manner that $,\; v\; -\; l,$^{[To be read ''the numerical value of the difference between'' $v$ ''and'' $l$]} becomes and remains less than any assigned arbitrarily small positive quantity, then $v$ is said to '''''approach the limit'' $l$, or to ''converge to the limit $l$. Symbolically this is written

*:: limit $v\; =\; l$, or, $v\; \backslash dot=\; l$.

*::: Usage note: In discussing convergence in mathematical analysis, modern rigorous formulations avoid using the terms approach'' and ''converge . These terms may, however, serve as a form of handwave when rigour is not required.

To make an attempt at (solving a problem or making a policy).

* 1922 , , Chapter II,

And it was with decision that he approached the problem of his wrecked shop.

To speak to, as to make a request or ask a question.

* 1988 Dinesh Vaghela, Publisher's Note'', in , Dinesh Publications, [http://www.well.com/user/jct/],

"Why bother publishing my conversations. It has not helped you, and it is not going to help anybody else", said U.G. when I approached him with the idea of publishing excerpts from his conversations with the constant stream of people who go to visit him.

(military) To take approaches to.

To bring near; to cause to draw near.

(Boyle)

Verb

(en verb)

(lb) To give shape or visible structure to (a thing or person).

:

*{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= William E. Conner

, title= An Acoustic Arms Race , volume=101, issue=3, page=206-7, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.}}

(lb) To take shape.

:

*{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Stephen P. Lownie], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/david-m-pelz David M. Pelz

, magazine=(American Scientist), title= Stents to Prevent Stroke , passage=As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn’t entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time.}}

To create (a word) by inflection or derivation.

:

(lb) To constitute, to compose, to make up.

:

*(Edmund Burke) (1729-1797)

*:the diplomatic politicianswho formed by far the majority

*

*:But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶.

*1948 May, Stanley Pashko, “The Biggest Family”, in (w, Boys' Life) , Volume 38, Number 5, Boy Scouts of America, ISSN 0006-8608, p.10:

*:Insects form the biggest family group in nature's kingdom, and also the oldest.

To mould or model by instruction or discipline.

:

*(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)

*:'Tis education forms the common mind.

*(John Dryden) (1631-1700)

*:Thus formed for speed, he challenges the wind.

To provide (a hare) with a form.

*(Michael Drayton) (1563-1631)

*:The melancholy hare is formed in brakes and briers.