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Near vs Closer - What's the difference?

near | closer |

As nouns the difference between near and closer

is that near is the left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc while closer is someone or something that closes.

As adjectives the difference between near and closer

is that near is physically close while closer is comparative of close.

As an adverb near

is having a small intervening distance with regard to something.

As a preposition near

is close to, in close proximity to.

As a verb near

is to come closer to; to approach.

near

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • The left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc.

    • Synonyms

    * near side

    Antonyms

    * off side

    See also

    * nearside

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Physically close.
  • * Dryden
    • He served great Hector, and was ever near , / Not with his trumpet only, but his spear.
  • Closely connected or related.
  • * Bible, Leviticus xviii. 12
    • She is thy father's near kinswoman.
  • Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; intimate; dear.
    • a near friend
  • Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling.
    • a version near to the original
  • So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow.
    • a near escape
  • (of an event) Approaching.
    • The end is near .
  • Approximate, almost.
    • The two words are near synonyms.
  • (dated) Next to the driver, when he is on foot; (US) on the left of an animal or a team.
    • the near''' ox; the '''near leg
  • (obsolete) Immediate; direct; close; short.
  • * Milton
    • the nearest way
  • (obsolete, slang) Stingy; parsimonious.

    • Antonyms

    * remote

    Derived terms

    * near abroad * near-death experience * near-Earth object * Near East * near infrared * near-minimal pair * near miss * near the knuckle * nearly * nearness

    Adverb

    (er)
  • Having a small intervening distance with regard to something.
    • I'm near -sighted.
  • (colloquial) nearly
  • * 1666 Samuel Pepys Diary and Correspondence (1867)
    • ...he hears for certain that the Queen-Mother is about and hath near finished a peace with France....
  • * 1825 David Hume, Tobias George Smollett The History of England p. 263
    • Sir John Friend had very near completed a regiment of horse.
  • * 2003 Owen Parry Honor's Kingdom p. 365
    • Thinking about those pounds and pence, I near forgot my wound.
  • * 2004 Jimmy Buffett A Salty Piece of Land p. 315, p. 35
    • "I damn near forgot." He pulled an envelope from his jacket.
  • * 2006 Juliet Marillier The Dark Mirror p. 377
    • The fire was almost dead, the chamber near dark.

    Derived terms

    * nearsighted

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • Close to, in close proximity to.
  • * 1820 , (Mary Shelley), :
    • He entered the inn, and asking for dinner, unbuckled his wallet, and sat down to rest himself near the door.
  • * , chapter=17
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything.}}
  • * 1927 , , :
    • It shied, balked, and whinnied, and in the end he could do nothing but drive it into the yard while the men used their own strength to get the heavy wagon near enough the hayloft for convenient pitching.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-16, author= John Vidal
    • , volume=189, issue=10, page=8, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas , passage=Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.}}
  • Close to in time.
    • Usage notes
    Joan Maling (1983) shows that near'' is best analysed as an adjective with which the use of ''to'' is optional, rather than a preposition. It has the comparative and the superlative, and it can be followed by ''enough''. The use of ''to however is usually British.

    Antonyms

    * far from

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To come closer to; to approach.
    • The ship nears the land.

    See also

    * (wikipedia) * para- * nigh

    References

    * Joan Maling (1983), Transitive Adjectives: A Case of Categorial Reanalysis'', in F. Henry and B. Richards (eds.), ''Linguistic Categories: Auxiliaries and Related Puzzles , vol.1, pp. 253-289.

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * 100 English basic words English locatives 1000 English basic words ----

    closer

    English

    Etymology 1

    From close (adjective) + -er

    Adjective

    (head)
  • (close)
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Welcome to the plastisphere , passage=[The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […].}}

    Etymology 2

    From close (verb) + -er

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Someone or something that closes.
    • In our organization, the VP of Sales usually acts as the closer .
  • Someone or something that concludes.
    • The DJ chose a fantastic track as his closer at the end of the night.
  • The last stone in a horizontal course, if smaller than the others; a piece of brick finishing a course.
    • (Gwilt)
  • (baseball) A relief pitcher that specializes in getting the last three outs of the game. See
    • They brought their closer in for the ninth.

    Anagrams

    * English heteronyms