Etimology
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”)).
verb
approach (third-person singular simple present approaches, present participle approaching, simple past and past participle approached)
(intransitive) To come or go near, in place or time; to move toward; to advance nearer; to draw nigh.
(intransitive, golf, tennis) To play an approach shot.
(transitive, intransitive, figuratively) Used intransitively, followed by to: to draw near (to someone or something); to make advances; to approximate or become almost equal.
(transitive, rarely intransitive) Of an immovable object or a number of such objects: to be positioned as to (notionally) appear to be moving towards (a place).
(transitive, also figuratively) To move toward (someone or something) in place, time, character, or value; to draw nearer to.
(transitive) To bring (something) near something else; to cause (something) to draw near.
(transitive) To attempt to make (a policy) or solve (a problem).
(transitive) To bring up or propose to (someone) an idea, question, request, etc.
(transitive, archaic, euphemistic) To have sexual intercourse with (someone).
(transitive, military) To take approaches to (a place); to move towards (a place) by using covered roads, trenches, or other works.
Examples
Approach thou beacon [the Sun] to this vnder gloabe, That by thy comfortable beames I may Peruſe this letter, nothing almoſt ſees my wracke But miſerie.
And if ſo be that the kings wrath ariſe, and hee ſay vnto thee, wherefore approched ye ſo nigh vnto the city when yee did fight? Knew yee not that they would ſhoot from the wall?
And let vs conſider one another to prouoke vnto loue, and to good workes: Not forſaking the aſſembling of ourſelues together, as the manner of ſome is: but exhorting one another, and ſo much the more, as ye ſee the day approching.
It beckoned Scrooge to approach, which he did. When they were within two paces of each other, Marley's Ghost held up its hand, warning him to come no nearer. Scrooge stopped.
The descent continues, still more steeply to Dundee , and approaching from the bridge itself this sharp descent gives the curious appearance that the station is below the level of the firth.
He approaches to the character of the ablest statesman.
The great source, as it appears to me, of the power of the Divine Comedy [by Dante Alighieri], is the strong belief with which the story seems to be told. In this respect, the only books which approach to its excellence are Gulliver's Travels and Robinson Crusoe.
Without these incentives to industry the Norwegian would be like the Laplander, without industry and civilisation; and the nearer he approaches to the beau idéal of those political economists—to the state of being without a taste for these foreign and expensive luxuries—the nearer he approaches to the condition of the Laplander in the comforts and enjoyments of life.
As we drove along the driveway, the trees approaching the house seemed more eerie.
[T]here appears a seeming mount, made up of trees rising one higher than another, in proportion as they approach the centre.The spelling has been modernized.
The spelling has been modernized.
“Would counsel please approach the bench?” asked the judge.
He approached the age of manhood.
Approch the Chamber, and deſtroy your ſight With a new Gorgon.
He [Empedocles] was an admirable Poet, and thought even to have approached Homer, in a Poem he writ of Natural Philoſophy; [...]
[…] I ſtuck all the Ground without my Wall, for a great way every way, as full with Stakes or Sticks of the Osier-like Wood, which I found ſo apt to grow, as they could well ſtand; inſomuch, that I believe I might ſet in near twenty thouſand of them, leaving a pretty large Space between them and my Wall, that I might have room to ſee an Enemy, and they might have no ſhelter from the young Trees, if they attempted to approach my outer Wall.
When one approaches the nest of this species, the male exhibits the greatest anxiety respecting its safety, passes and repasses, fluttering and snapping its bill within a few feet, as if determined to repel the intruder.
Mr. Brownlow adopted Oliver as his own son, and removing with him and the old housekeeper to within a mile of the parsonage house, where his dear friends resided, he gratified the only remaining wish of Oliver's warm and earnest heart, and thus linked together a little society, whose condition approached as nearly to one of perfect happiness as can ever be known in this changing world.
The secular cooling that must some day overtake our planet has already gone far indeed with our neighbour [Mars]. Its physical condition is still largely a mystery, but we know now that even in its equatorial region the mid-day temperature barely approaches that of our coldest winter.
If a variable v {\displaystyle v} takes on successively a series of values that approach nearer and nearer to a constant value l {\displaystyle l} in such a manner that | v − l | {\displaystyle |v-l|} [Footnote: To be read the numerical value of the difference between v {\displaystyle v} and l {\displaystyle l} ] becomes and remains less than any assigned arbitrarily small positive quantity, then v {\displaystyle v} is said to approach the limit l {\displaystyle l} , or to converge to the limit l {\displaystyle l} . Symbolically this is written limit v = l {\displaystyle \operatorname {limit} v=l} .
"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, […]
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.
"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.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:copulate
None of you ſhall approche to any that is neere of kinne to him, to vncouer their nakedneſſe: I am the Lord.
Etimology
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.
noun
approach (plural approaches)
(also figuratively) An act of drawing near in place or time; an advancing or coming near.
An act of coming near in character or value; an approximation.
(also figuratively) An avenue, passage, or way by which a building or place can be approached; an access.
(figuratively) A manner of making (a policy) or solving (a problem, etc.).
(archaic) An opportunity of drawing near; access.
(aviation, also attributively) The way an aircraft comes in to land at an airport.
(bowling) The area before the lane in which a bowler may stand or run up before bowling the ball.
(golf, tennis) Short for approach shot.
Examples
Ah, what a ſigne it is of euill life, Where death's approach is ſeene ſo terrible.
Nauar had notice of your faire approch. And he and his compettitours in oth, Were all addreſt to meete you gentle Lady Before I came: […]
Theſe Things, and the Approach of Night, called us off, or elſe, as Friday would have had us, we ſhould certainly have taken the Skin of this monſtrous Creature off, which was worth ſaving; but we had near three Leagues to go, and our Guide haſten'd us; ſo we left him, and went forward on our Journey.
She comes! the Cloud-compelling pow'r, behold! With night primæval, and with Chaos old. […] Thus at her felt approach, and ſecret might, Art after Art goes out, and all is Night.
The approach of summer, says our Lord, is not more surely indicated by the first appearances of spring, than the final destruction of the wicked by the beginnings of vengeance on this impenitent people.
"A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!" cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach.
There is quite a concert of noises: the great bull-dog, chained against the stables, is thrown into furious exasperation by the unwary approach of a cock too near the mouth of his kennel, and sends forth a thundering bark, which is answered by two fox-hounds shut up in the opposite cow-house; […]
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.
Where are my lines then? my approaches? views? Where are my window-ſongs?
[…] he ſaw As of the ſun or moon illuming clear The palace of Phæacia's mighty King. […] Maſtiffs, in gold and ſilver, lined the approach On either ſide, by art celeſtial framed Of Vulcan, guardian of Alcinoüs gate For ever, unobnoxious to decay.
It was, therefore, natural to expect that the main attack would come from the north along the railroad, and from the east, where the approach from the Transvaal boundary, which is there marked by the Buffalo River, is over a country much more practicable than the western mountain range.
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.
Its [the United States Environmental Protection Agency's] initial approach to controlling the amount of lead in the ambient air was to limit lead emissions from automobiles by restricting the amount of lead in gasoline.
The functional approach [to separation of powers issues] emphasizes the core functions of each branch and asks whether the challenged action threatens the essential attributes of the legislative, executive, or judicial function or functions. Under this approach, there is considerable flexibility in the moving branch, usually Congress acting to make structural or institutional change, if there is little significant risk of impairment of a core function or in the case of such a risk if there is a compelling reason for the action.
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.
The Learned met with free Approach, Although they came not in a Coach.
Now, rais'd again from low approach, She [a pin] viſits in the doctor's coach; Here, there, by various fortune toſt, At laſt in Greſham hall was loſt.
Nor, though placed amongst a ruthless crew and every hour passed by ruthless hands, and through the livelong nights shrouded with thick darkness which might cover any pilfering approach, nevertheless every sunrise found the doubloon where the sunset left it last.
Most small airplanes maintain a speed well in excess of 1.3 times VSO on an instrument approach. An airplane with a stall speed of 50 knots has a normal approach speed of 65 knots.
We flew the RNAV/GPS A approach to runway 16.
Related words
hyponyms
instrument approach
missed approach
nonprecision approach
precision approach
visual approach