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Near vs Open - What's the difference?

near | open |

As nouns the difference between near and open

is that near is the left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc while open is .

As an adjective near

is physically 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

    *

    open

    English

    (wikipedia open)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (not comparable) Which is not closed; accessible; unimpeded; as, an open gate.
  • * 1908, (Kenneth Grahame), (The Wind in the Willows) , Chapter 2
  • The open road, the dusty highway
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The attack of the MOOCs , passage=Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.}}
  • Not drawn together, closed, or contracted; extended; expanded.
  • an open''' hand; an '''open''' flower; an '''open prospect
  • * Dryden
  • Each, with open arms, embraced her chosen knight.
  • (not comparable) Actively conducting or prepared to conduct business.
  • (comparable) Receptive.
  • * Bible, Acts xix. 33
  • If Demetrius have a matter against any man, the law is open and there are deputies.
  • * Shakespeare
  • The service that I truly did his life, / Hath left me open to all injuries.
  • (not comparable) Public; as, an open letter, an open declaration.
  • * Shakespeare
  • His thefts are too open .
  • * Milton
  • That I may find him, and with secret gaze / Or open admiration him behold.
  • (not comparable) Candid, ingenuous, not subtle in character.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • with aspect open , shall erect his head
  • * Shakespeare
  • The Moor is of a free and open nature.
  • * Addison
  • The French are always open , familiar, and talkative.
  • (mathematics, logic, of a formula) Having a free variable.
  • (mathematics, topology, of a set) Which is part of a predefined collection of subsets of X, that defines a topological space on X.
  • In current use; mapped to part of memory.
  • (business) Not fulfilled.
  • Not settled or adjusted; not decided or determined; not closed or withdrawn from consideration.
  • an open question
    to keep an offer or opportunity open
  • (music, stringed instruments) Without any fingers pressing the string against the fingerboard.
  • Not of a quality to prevent communication, as by closing waterways, blocking roads, etc.; hence, not frosty or inclement; mild; used of the weather or the climate.
  • an open winter
    (Francis Bacon)
  • (phonetics) Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the articulating organs; said of vowels.
  • (phonetics) Uttered, as a consonant, with the oral passage simply narrowed without closure.
  • Synonyms
    * (not closed) accessible, unimpeded
    Antonyms
    * (accessible) closed, shut
    Derived terms
    (Terms derived from the adjective "open") * break open * clopen * drop open * half-open * keep a weather eye open * keep an eye open * lay open * open-air * open-and-shut * open-armed * open-arse * open bar * open book * open cluster * open-collar * open compound * open content * open design * open-ended * open-eyed * open-face * open-faced * open fireplace * open goal * open-handed/openhanded * open heart surgery * open-hearted * open-hearth * open house * open interest * open letter * open listing * open loop * open marriage * open matte * open mic * open mind * open-mouthed * open outcry * open outsourcing * open-plan * open problem * open proxy * open sandwich * open sea * open season * open secret * open sight * open source * open system * open water * open-work * openable * openside * Open University * wide open * with open arms

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make something accessible or remove an obstacle to its being accessible.
  • * , chapter=7
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=I made a speaking trumpet of my hands and commenced to whoop “Ahoy!” and “Hello!” at the top of my lungs. […] The Colonel woke up, and, after asking what in brimstone was the matter, opened his mouth and roared “Hi!” and “Hello!” like the bull of Bashan.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=20 citation , passage=‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’}}
  • To bring up (a topic).
  • To make accessible to customers or clients.
  • To start (a campaign).
  • To become .
  • * , chapter=1
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
  • To begin conducting business.
  • To enter upon; to begin.
  • to open''' a discussion; to '''open''' fire upon an enemy; to '''open''' trade, or correspondence; to '''open a case in court, or a meeting
  • (cricket) To begin a side's innings as one of the first two batsmen.
  • (poker) To bet before any other player has in a particular betting round in a game of poker.
  • (transitive, intransitive, poker) To reveal one's hand.
  • To load into memory for viewing or editing.
  • To spread; to expand into an open or loose position.
  • to open a closed fist
    to open matted cotton by separating the fibres
  • (obsolete) To disclose; to reveal; to interpret; to explain.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • The king opened himself to some of his council, that he was sorry for the earl's death.
  • * Bible, Jer. xx. 12
  • Unto thee have I opened my cause.
    Antonyms
    * (to make accessible) close, shut
    Derived terms
    * open a can of whoop ass * open fire * open one's big mouth * open sesame * open shop * open the attack * open the face * open up * reopen *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A sports event in which anybody can compete; as, the Australian Open.
  • (electronics) a wire that is broken midway.
  • The electrician found the open in the circuit after a few minutes of testing.
  • (with the ) Open or unobstructed space; an exposed location.
  • I can't believe you left the lawnmower out in the open when you knew it was going to rain this afternoon!
    Wary of hunters, the fleeing deer kept well out of the open , dodging instead from thicket to thicket.
  • (with the ) Public knowledge or scrutiny; full view.
  • We have got to bring this company's corrupt business practices into the open .

    Statistics

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