Behind vs Near - What's the difference?
behind | near |
At the back of.
*
*:But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶, and a 'bead' could be drawn upon Molly, the dairymaid, kissing the fogger behind the hedge, little dreaming that the deadly tube was levelled at them.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=(Timothy Garton Ash)
, volume=189, issue=6, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= To the back of.
After, time- or motion-wise.
*1883 , (Robert Louis Stevenson), (Treasure Island)
*:About the center, and a good way behind the rest, Silver and I followed - I tethered by my rope.
Responsible for.
In support of.
:
Left a distance by, in progress or improvement; inferior to.
:
*Bible, xi.5:
*:I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.
At the back part; in the rear.
* Milton
Toward the back part or rear; backward.
Overdue, in arrears.
Slow; of a watch or clock.
existing afterwards
* Shakespeare
Backward in time or order of succession; past.
* Bible, Phil. ii. 13
Behind the scenes in a theatre; backstage.
* 1890 , (Oscar Wilde), The Picture of Dorian Gray , Vintage 2007, p. 68:
(archaic) Not yet brought forward, produced, or exhibited to view; out of sight; remaining.
* John Locke
the rear, back-end
butt, the buttocks, bottom
(Australian rules football) A one-point score.
* 1880 . "The Opening Ball" in Comic Australian Verse'', ed. G. Lehmann, 1975. Quoted in G. A. Wilkes, ''A Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms , second edition, 1985, (Sydney University Press), ISBN 0-424-00113-6.
The catcher.
In the Eton College field game, any of a group of players consisting of two "shorts" (who try to kick the ball over the bully) and a "long" (who defends the goal).
Physically close.
* Dryden
Closely connected or related.
* Bible, Leviticus xviii. 12
Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; intimate; dear.
Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling.
So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow.
(of an event) Approaching.
Approximate, almost.
(dated) Next to the driver, when he is on foot; (US) on the left of an animal or a team.
(obsolete) Immediate; direct; close; short.
* Milton
(obsolete, slang) Stingy; parsimonious.
Having a small intervening distance with regard to something.
(colloquial) nearly
* 1666 Samuel Pepys Diary and Correspondence (1867)
* 1825 David Hume, Tobias George Smollett The History of England p. 263
* 2003 Owen Parry Honor's Kingdom p. 365
* 2004 Jimmy Buffett A Salty Piece of Land p. 315, p. 35
* 2006 Juliet Marillier The Dark Mirror p. 377
Close to, in close proximity to.
* 1820 , (Mary Shelley), :
* , chapter=17
, title= * 1927 , , :
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-16, author=
, volume=189, issue=10, page=8, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= Close to in time.
As prepositions the difference between behind and near
is that behind is at the back of while near is close to, in close proximity to.As adverbs the difference between behind and near
is that behind is at the back part; in the rear while near is having a small intervening distance with regard to something.As nouns the difference between behind and near
is that behind is the rear, back-end while near is the left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc.As an adjective near is
physically close.As a verb near is
to come closer to; to approach.behind
English
Preposition
(English prepositions)Where Dr Pangloss meets Machiavelli, passage=Hidden behind thickets of acronyms and gorse bushes of detail, a new great game is under way across the globe. Some call it geoeconomics, but it's geopolitics too. The current power play consists of an extraordinary range of countries simultaneously sitting down to negotiate big free trade and investment agreements.}}
Synonyms
* in back of * to the rear ofAdverb
(en adverb)- I shall not lag behind .
- to look behind
- My employer is two paychecks behind on paying my salary.
- I'm two weeks behind in my schedule.
- ''My watch is four minutes behind .
- He left behind a legacy of death and sorrow.
- He stayed behind after the war.
- Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, / And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, / Leave not a rack behind .
- forgetting those things which are behind
- ‘After the performance was over I went behind , and spoke to her.’
- We cannot be sure that there is no evidence behind .
Usage notes
For usage in phrasal verbs, see Category: English phrasal verbs with particle "behind": .Noun
(en noun)- A roar from ten thousand throats go up,
For we've kicked another behind.
Derived terms
* behind bars * behind closed doors * behind in the count * behind somebody's back * behind the arc * behind the bit * behind the counter * behind the eight-ball * behind the scenes * behind the wheel * behindhand * caught behind * come from behind * drop behind * fall behind * get behind * hiney * leave behind * rushed behind * stay behind * wet behind the earsStatistics
*References
* Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8near
English
Synonyms
* near sideAntonyms
* off sideSee also
* nearsideAdjective
(er)- He served great Hector, and was ever near , / Not with his trumpet only, but his spear.
- She is thy father's near kinswoman.
- a near friend
- a version near to the original
- a near escape
- The end is near .
- The two words are near synonyms.
- the near''' ox; the '''near leg
- the nearest way
Antonyms
* remoteDerived terms
* near abroad * near-death experience * near-Earth object * Near East * near infrared * near-minimal pair * near miss * near the knuckle * nearly * nearnessAdverb
(er)- I'm near -sighted.
- ...he hears for certain that the Queen-Mother is about and hath near finished a peace with France....
- Sir John Friend had very near completed a regiment of horse.
- Thinking about those pounds and pence, I near forgot my wound.
- "I damn near forgot." He pulled an envelope from his jacket.
- The fire was almost dead, the chamber near dark.
Derived terms
* nearsightedPreposition
(English prepositions)- He entered the inn, and asking for dinner, unbuckled his wallet, and sat down to rest himself near the door.
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.}}
- 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.
John Vidal
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.}}
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 fromSee also
* (wikipedia) * para- * nighReferences
* 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.