Tra từ near - Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

near [near nears neared nearing nearer nearest] adjective, adverb, preposition, verb BrE [nɪə(r)] NAmE [nɪr]
adjective (near·er, near·est) In senses 1 to 4 near and nearer do not usually go before a noun; nearest can go either before or after a noun.
1. a short distance away
Syn: ↑close
• His house is very near.
• Where's the nearest bank?
2. a short time away in the future
• The conflict is unlikely to be resolved in the near future (= very soon).
3. coming next after sb/sth
• She has a 12-point lead over her nearest rival.
4. (usually nearest)similar; most similar
• He was the nearest thing to (= the person most like) a father she had ever had.
see also ↑o.n.o.
5. only before noun (no comparative or superlative)close to being sb/sth
• The election proved to be a near disaster for the party.
•a near impossibility
6. ~ relative/relation used to describe a close family connection
• Only the nearest relatives were present at the funeral.

Word Origin:
Middle English: from Old Norse nær ‘nearer’, comparative of ná, corresponding to Old English nēah ‘nigh’.

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: ▪ the near future ◇ ▪ a near neighbour ◇ ▪ a near miss ◇ ▪ a close contest ◇ ▪ a close encounter ◇ ▪ a close call. Close is more often used to describe a relationship between people: ▪ a close friend ◇ ▪ close family ◇ ▪ close links. You do not usually use near in this way.

Which Word?:
next / nearest
(The) next means ‘after this/that one’ in time or in a series of events, places or people: ▪ When is your next appointment? ◇ ▪ Turn left at the next traffic lights. ◇ ▪ Who’s next? (The) nearest means ‘closest’ in space: ▪ Where’s the nearest supermarket?
Notice the difference between the prepositions nearest to and next to: ▪ Janet’s sitting nearest to the window ▪ (= of all the people in the room) ▪. ◇ ▪ Sarah’s sitting next to the window ▪ (= right beside it). In informal BrE nearest can be used instead of nearest to: ▪ Who’s sitting nearest the door?

Example Bank:
•She spoke in a near whisper.
•The climbers had already had one near miss on the summit.
Idioms: ↑as near as ▪ ↑as near as damn it ▪ ↑near enough ▪ ↑near thing ▪ ↑not anywhere near near ▪ ↑so near and yet so far ▪ ↑the nearest … ▪ ↑your nearest and dearest
Derived Word: ↑nearness

adverb (near·er, near·est)
1. at a short distance away
• A bomb exploded somewhere near.
• She took a step nearer.
•Visitors came from near and far.
2. a short time away in the future
• The exams are drawing near.
3. (especially in compounds)almost
•a near-perfect performance
• I'm as near certain as can be.
more at pretty near at ↑pretty _adv.

Word Origin:
Middle English: from Old Norse nær ‘nearer’, comparative of ná, corresponding to Old English nēah ‘nigh’.

preposition (also near to, near·er (to), near·est (to)) Near to is not usually used before the name of a place, person, festival, etc.
1. at a short distance away from sb/sth
• Do you live near here?
•Go and sit nearer (to) the fire.
2. a short period of time from sth
• My birthday is very near Christmas.
•I'll think about it nearer (to) the time (= when it is just going to happen).
3. used before a number to mean ‘approximately’, ‘just below or above’
• Share prices are near their record high of last year.
• Profits fell from $11 million to nearer $8 million.
4. similar to sb/sth in quality, size, etc
• Nobody else comes near her in intellect.
• He's nearer 70 than 60.
•This colour is nearest (to) the original.
5. ~ (doing) sth close to a particular state
•a state near (to) death
• She was near to tears (= almost crying).
• We came near to being killed.
see (close/near) at hand at ↑hand _n., close/dear/near to sb's heart at ↑heart, be close to/near the mark at ↑mark _n.

Word Origin:
Middle English: from Old Norse nær ‘nearer’, comparative of ná, corresponding to Old English nēah ‘nigh’.

Which Word?:
next / nearest
(The) next means ‘after this/that one’ in time or in a series of events, places or people: ▪ When is your next appointment? ◇ ▪ Turn left at the next traffic lights. ◇ ▪ Who’s next? (The) nearest means ‘closest’ in space: ▪ Where’s the nearest supermarket?
Notice the difference between the prepositions nearest to and next to: ▪ Janet’s sitting nearest to the window ▪ (= of all the people in the room) ▪. ◇ ▪ Sarah’s sitting next to the window ▪ (= right beside it). In informal BrE nearest can be used instead of nearest to: ▪ Who’s sitting nearest the door?

verb transitive, intransitive ~ (sth) (rather formal)
to come close to sth in time or space
Syn: ↑approach
• The project is nearing completion.
• She was nearing the end of her life.
•He must be nearing 40.
•We neared the top of the hill.
•As Christmas neared, the children became more and more excited.
Verb forms:

Word Origin:
Middle English: from Old Norse nær ‘nearer’, comparative of ná, corresponding to Old English nēah ‘nigh’.

Example Bank:
•As she neared the door she slipped and fell.
•As the bus neared we could see someone waving.
•As we neared the island the cloud became thicker.
•He began to worry as the day of their visit neared.
•Her stay in New York was nearing its end.
•It was nearing midnight.
•Many of the teachers were nearing retirement.
•More troops were nearing the besieged city.
•She smiled as she neared the little group.
•The project is nearing completion.
•We were obviously nearing the airport.

See also: ↑near to ▪ ↑nearer