1336
time (= when it is just
going to happen),
M ft b 3 used before a
number to mean ‘approximately’,‘just below or above’
( fHT!Scis]jit[ ) Aft, ±T, 1M jfi: Share prices are near their record
high of last year.
0
Profits fell from $11 million to nearer $8 million, fijMfk 1 100 A
ft 800 7? 7C
o 4 similar to sb/sth in quality, size, etc. (MM.
A'J>^f ) S
Nobody else
comes near
her in intellect. 0
He’s nearer
70 than
60. #, 60 p1#, M 70 ^ To o This colour is nearest (to) the original. 5 ~ (doing) sth close
to a particular state
jgifiT ( 7i£ ##(&); $fil|fi;
: a state near (to) death [fiAt: 0 She was near to tears (= almost crying). o We came near
to being killed. fM
It M. A 7 '14 ffc 0 ITiTMl see heart,
MARK
n.
mverb (rather formal) to come close to sth
in time or space (■ltffH!j£$jfl7.± ) &-*£ , Hi£-, Kfi i£ 033 approach : [VN] The project is nearing completion.
o 0 She was nearing the end of her life. O We neared the top of the
hill. ill ® T o 0 [V] As Christmas neared, the
children became more and more excited.
'MtISMT'T ,
WHICH
WORD? near ♦ close
The adjectives near and close are often the same in
meaning, but in some phrases only one of them may be used. near fq close
ii'$"£ATBlRl,
iSffiilf the near future Aft^&A
o a near neighbour o a near miss H^JL^'43 o
a close
contest o a dose encounter ifiiSi
o a close call Close is more often used
to describe a
relationship between people.
AZ lUftA^ close:
a close
friend close •family AAA^ft^H o close links You do
not usually use near in
this way. near0
near-by /.ma'bai;
NAmE .mr'bai/ adj.,
adv. m adj. [usually before noun]
near in position; not far away Pftjiilft; $PiSft: Her mother lived in a nearby town, (tfe O There were complaints from
nearby residents.
■ adv. a short distance from
sb/sth; not far away £ Pft i£; AS: They live nearby. fMlMTEPftSo
<> The
car is parked nearby. Pftifiio
,
near- death ex perience noun an occasion when you almost die, which is
often remembered as leaving your body or going down a tunnel i®7Elr:J77 ( #§IA.A
the .Near 'East noun [sing.] = Middle East nearly /'
The
bottle’s nearly empty. & M rF M £ £* T» O I’ve worked here for nearly two
years.
0 It’s nearly time to leave. ftM7« 0 The audience was nearly all men. 71&MAAiPjtl§fto O He’s nearly as tall as you are. i<
Al£ffl#—To 0 They’re nearly always late. #, fl] XL A & 71 ifi ?!j e 0 She very nearly died. b&M&JLftT
„ o note at almost mm not nearly much less than; not at
all £feA
H:
It’s not
nearly as hot as last year. A AlP
0 There isn’t nearly enough time to
get there now.
—more
at pretty
adv.
.near
miss noun 1 a situation when a
serious accident or a disaster very nearly happens bomb or
a shot that nearly hits
what it is aimed at but misses it ( 0 #It A ) ■ j£ Hi Aft IB: {figurative) He should have won
the match—it was a near miss.
(ft Mo —see also a close thing at
CLOSE2 adj., A NEAR THING at NEAR adj.
near-side /‘masaid;
NAmE ‘mrs-/ adj. [only before noun] {BrE)- (for a driver) on the
side that is nearest the edge of the road ( )
USATrilft: the car’s near
side doors /£ ft -A H 0 Keep to the nearside
lane, Afc fi ^ 5: ftfifeal o ► the near-side noun [sing.]: The driver lost
control and veered to the nearside. M
A A
ASitM^ltefllo
— compare offside near-sight-ed /.ma'saitid; NAmE ,mr-/ adj. (especially NAmE) = short-sighted(I) r»m far-sighted ► near- sight-ed-ness noun [U] neat o-m /Hi:t/‘adj. (neat er, neat est)
1
tidy and in order; carefully done or arranged ft; fe^rft; AJTft: a neat desk ^j&fto neat handwriting X^ft^jil 0 neat rows of books TTft A O She was wearing a neat black suit,
ftM^XLMc
0 They sat in
her neat and tidy kitchen, jtk 'M&i2 (of people A) liking to
keep things tidy and in order; looking tidy or doing things in a tidy way W A S
ft; H It to ft: Try
and be neater! 3 small,
with a pleasing shape or
appearance A X5 tfc ?| ft HT1 trim : her neat figure M IP fF A & ft k M 4 simple but clever MrM
ft ; # f? ft; Pj ft: a neat explanation fgj Bfl ft $$ M o a neat solution to the problem 5 {NAmE,
informal)
good; excellent ft ; $$ ft : It’s a really neat movie. viK-fk— nP®(fjft^^0 O We had a great
time—it was pretty neat. #t7o
6 (BrE) {NAmE straight) (especially of alcoholic
drinks % j^'M) not mixed with
water or anything else ft ; £$ ft : neat whisky ££ St dr
j® ► neat-ly
adv.: neatly folded clothes iff S S ff ft A M 0 The box fitted neatly
into the drawer. 0 She
summarized her plan very neatly, fcfe 7M
ftit^Jo neatness noun [U] neat-en /'ni:tn/ verb [VN] to make sth tidy neb-bish /'nebij/ noun {NAmE, informal) a man who behaves in an
anxious and nervous way and without confidence fitift A;
ne-bu-chad nez-zar /.nebjukad'neza^)/ noun a wine bottle which
holds twenty times as much wine as an ordinary bottle ( Afgft ) #AM
US
— compare jeroboam, Methuselah neb-ula /'nebjala/ noun {pi. nebu-lae /-li:/) {astronomy A) a mass of dust or gas
that can be seen in the night sky, often appearing very bright; a bright area
in the night sky caused by a large cloud of stars that are far away M
A; ^MJUmiLAftM^
nebu lous /'nebjalas/ adj. (formal) not clear H$l]ft; A itJtft EEC! vague: a nebulous concept ^ISlftM^: ne-ces-sar-ies /'nesasariz; NAmE 'nesaseriz/ noun [pi.] {old-fashioned) the things that you
need, especially in order to live ( AXb )
necessarily 0-w
/.nesa’serali; BrE also 'nesasarali/ adv.
used to say that sth
cannot be avoided jfa; A Rf i!! % itfi: The number of places
available is necessarily limited. oJ^£lft£$|AC3U ,not neces'sarily used to say that sth
is possibly true but not definitely or always true A -~a£; Aift: The more expensive articles are not
necessarily better. & H ft A ® ^ o o Biggest doesn’t
necessarily mean best.
IXM-SIllfWo
0 ‘We’re
going to lose.’ ‘Not necessarily.’ “^c(n^^ft0
” “A^v ” ne-ces-sary
tHr /'nesasari; NAmE -seri/ adj.
1 ~ (for sb/sth) (to do sth) that is needed for a
purpose or a reason ft; iftHft H771 essential: It may be necessary to
buy a new one. tfci^Wi^'^AAlIrft To O It doesn’t seem
necessary for us to meet.
0 Only use your car when
absolutely necessary. ^ A Rf ft o
If
necessary, you can
contact me at home, ^'^ftij,
0 I’ll make the necessary arrangements. ^
^
^ ft i£c o 2 [only before
noun] that
must exist or happen and cannot be avoided ift^ft; A^M^ft H771 inevitable : This is a necessary consequence of progress. 1*131 a .necessary 'evil
a thing that is bad or
that you do not like but which