Approach

//əˈpɹəʊt͡ʃ// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An act of drawing near in place or time; an advancing or coming near. also, figuratively

    "Ah, what a ſigne it is of euill life, Where death's approach is ſeene ſo terrible."

  2. 2
    the act of drawing spatially closer to something wordnet
  3. 3
    An act of coming near in character or value; an approximation.

    "The canine, judging from the figures published by M. [Édouard] Lartet, seems to be less developed than in the male chimpanzees, gorillas and orang. In which character the fossil, if it belonged to a male, makes a nearer approach to the human type; but it is one which many of the inferior monkeys also exhibit, and is by no means to be trusted as significant of true affinity, supposing even the sex of the fossil to be known as being male."

  4. 4
    a relatively short golf shot intended to put the ball onto the putting green wordnet
  5. 5
    An avenue, passage, or way by which a building or place can be approached; an access. also, figuratively

    "Where are my lines then? my approaches? views? Where are my window-ſongs?"

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  1. 6
    ideas or actions intended to deal with a problem or situation wordnet
  2. 7
    An avenue, passage, or way by which a building or place can be approached; an access.; A path taken to reach the climbing area, for example, from a car park, road, etc. also, figuratively
  3. 8
    a way of entering or leaving wordnet
  4. 9
    A manner of making (a policy) or solving (a problem, etc.). figuratively

    "Our proposed definitional approach to the data processing-communications dilemma evoked considerable discussion. There is uniform disagreement and confusion as to the regulatory implications of the proposed definitional terms."

  5. 10
    a close approximation wordnet
  6. 11
    An opportunity of drawing near; access. archaic

    "Honour hath three Things in it: The Vantage Ground to doe Good: The approach to Kings and principall Persons: And the Raiſing of a Mans owne Fortunes."

  7. 12
    the temporal property of becoming nearer in time wordnet
  8. 13
    The way an aircraft comes in to land at an airport. also, attributive

    "Most small airplanes maintain a speed well in excess of 1.3 times V_(SO) on an instrument approach. An airplane with a stall speed of 50 knots (V_(SO)) has a normal approach speed of 65 knots."

  9. 14
    a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others wordnet
  10. 15
    The way an aircraft comes in to land at an airport.; A specific procedure used for approaching and landing at an airport. also, attributive

    "We flew the RNAV/GPS A approach to runway 16."

  11. 16
    the event of one object coming closer to another wordnet
  12. 17
    The area before the lane in which a bowler may stand or run up before bowling the ball.
  13. 18
    the final path followed by an aircraft as it is landing wordnet
  14. 19
    Ellipsis of approach shot. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
Verb
  1. 1
    To come or go near, in place or time; to move toward; to advance nearer; to draw nigh. intransitive

    "She approached the door cautiously."

  2. 2
    make advances to someone, usually with a proposal or suggestion wordnet
  3. 3
    To play an approach shot. intransitive
  4. 4
    come near in time wordnet
  5. 5
    Used intransitively, followed by to: to draw near (to someone or something); to make advances; to approximate or become almost equal. ambitransitive, figuratively

    "He approaches to the character of the ablest statesman."

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  1. 6
    move towards wordnet
  2. 7
    Of an immovable object or a number of such objects: to be positioned as to (notionally) appear to be moving towards (a place). intransitive, rare, transitive

    "As we drove along the driveway, the trees approaching the house seemed more eerie."

  3. 8
    begin to deal with wordnet
  4. 9
    To move toward (someone or something) in place, time, character, or value; to draw nearer to. also, figuratively, transitive

    "“Would counsel please approach the bench?” asked the judge."

  5. 10
    come near or verge on, resemble, come nearer in quality, or character wordnet
  6. 11
    To bring (something) near something else; to cause (something) to draw near. transitive

    ""My story is not long," said the artist; "but your honour had better sit while you listen to it." So saying, he approached to the fire a three-footed stool, and took another himself, […]"

  7. 12
    Used when defining limits, preceded by as: To become arbitrarily close to some value, be it a number, vector or infinity and have an effect on another value. transitive
  8. 13
    To attempt to make (a policy) or solve (a problem). transitive

    "Mr. Moonlight Quill, mysterious, exotic, and oriental in temperament was, nevertheless, a man of decision. And it was with decision that he approached the problem of his wrecked shop."

  9. 14
    To bring up or propose to (someone) an idea, question, request, etc. transitive

    ""Why bother publishing my conversations. It has not helped you, and it is not going to help anybody else", said U. G. when I approached him with the idea of publishing excerpts from his conversations with the constant stream of people who go to visit him."

  10. 15
    To have sexual intercourse with (someone). archaic, euphemistic, transitive

    "None of you ſhall approche to any that is neere of kinne to him, to vncouer their nakedneſſe: I am the Lord."

  11. 16
    To take approaches to (a place); to move towards (a place) by using covered roads, trenches, or other works. transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English aprochen, borrowed from Old French aprochier (modern French approcher), from Late Latin appropiāre, a verb based on Latin prope (“near”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (a variant of *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + *-kʷe (“suffix forming distributives from interrogatives”)).

Etymology 2

From Middle English approche (“approach, arrival”), from approchen, aprochen (“to come or go near, approach; to adjoin, be close by; to enter (someone’s) presence; to be or become involved; to reach (a certain state); to arrive; to befall, happen to; to become similar to, resemble; to be a match for (someone)”); see etymology 1.

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