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Over vs Near - What's the difference?

over | near |

As adverbs the difference between over and near

is that over is , above while near is having a small intervening distance with regard to something.

As prepositions the difference between over and near

is that over is over while near is close to, in close proximity to.

As a noun 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.

over

English

(wikipedia over)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Finished; ended or concluded.
  • The show is over .

    Derived terms

    *

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Thoroughly; completely; from beginning to end.
  • * 1661 , , The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond
  • During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant
  • From an upright position to being horizontal.
  • Horizontally; left to right or right to left.
  • From one position or state to another.
  • Overnight (throughout the night).
  • Again; another time; once more; over again.
  • Noun

    (en noun)
  • (cricket) A set of six legal balls bowled.
  • Any surplus amount of money, goods delivered, etc.
  • * 2008 , G. Puttick, Sandy van Esch, The Principles and Practice of Auditing (page 609)
  • ...standard cash count forms used to record the count and any overs or unders.

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • Physical positioning.
  • # On top of; above; higher than; further up.
  • #* (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) (1807-1882)
  • Over them gleamed far off the crimson banners of morning.
  • #* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=(Henry Petroski)
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= The Evolution of Eyeglasses , passage=The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone,
  • # Across or spanning.
  • #* (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
  • Certain lakespoison birds which fly over them.
  • #* , chapter=3
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.}}
  • #* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= A punch in the gut , passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}
  • # In such a way as to cover.
  • # From one physical position to another via an obstacle that must be traversed vertically, first upwards and then downwards.
  • By comparison.
  • # More than; to a greater degree.
  • # Beyond; past; exceeding; too much or too far.
  • # (label) As compared to.
  • (label) Divided by.
  • Finished with; done with; from one state to another via a hindrance that must be solved or defeated; or via a third state that represents a significant difference from the first two.
  • While]] using, (especially) while [[consume, consuming.
  • * 1990 , (Seymour Chatman), Coming to Terms , , ISBN 0801497361, page 100[http://books.google.com/books?id=loD1JXOtmTYC&pg=PA100&dq=relax]:
  • Six diners in business clothes—five attractive young women and a balding middle-aged man—relax over cigarettes.
  • * 1998 , Marian Swerdlow, Underground Woman , , ISBN 1566396107, page 88 [http://books.google.com/books?id=jIK3DGkOwYkC&pg=PA88&dq=croissants]:
  • Sunday had been my favorite day at Woodlawn. A long W.A.A. [="work as assigned" period], having coffee and croissants with Mark over the Sunday Times .
  • * 2009 , Sara Pennypacker, The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery , , ISBN 9780545207867, page 79:
  • Over meatloaf and mashed potatoes (being careful not to talk with his mouth full), Stanley told about his adventure.
  • Concerning or regarding.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Can China clean up fast enough? , passage=It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.}}
  • Above, implying superiority after a contest; in spite of; notwithstanding.
  • Usage notes

    When used in the context of "from one location to another", over'' implies that the two places are at approximately the same height or the height difference is not relevant. For example, if two offices are on the same floor of a building, an office worker might say ''I'll bring that over''' for you'', while if the offices were on different floors, the sentence would likely be ''I'll bring that up [down] for you.'' However, distances are not constrained, e.g. ''He came '''over''' from England last year and now lives in Los Angeles'' or ''I moved the stapler '''over to the other side of my desk.

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • In radio communications: end of sentence, ready to receive reply.
  • How do you receive? Over !

    References

    * Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "The semantic network for over''", in ''The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

    Statistics

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    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

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