Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Approach

Ap·proach′, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Approached; p. pr. & vb. n. Approaching.] [OE. approchen, aprochen, OF. approcher, LL. appropriare, fr. L. ad + propiare to draw near, prope near.] 1. To come or go near, in place or time; to draw nigh; to advance nearer.

Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city? 2 Sam. xi. 20.

But exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Heb. x. 25.

2. To draw near, in a figurative sense; to make advances; to approximate; as, he approaches to the character of the ablest statesman.

Ap·proach′, v. t. 1. To bring near; to cause to draw near; to advance. [Archaic] Boyle.

2. To come near to in place, time, or character; to draw nearer to; as, to approach the city; to approach my cabin; he approached the age of manhood.

He was an admirable poet, and thought even to have approached Homer. Temple.

3. (Mil.) To take approaches to.

Ap·proach′, n. [Cf. F. approche. See Approach, v. i.] 1. The act of drawing near; a coming or advancing near. "The approach of summer." Horsley.

A nearer approach to the human type. Owen.

2. A access, or opportunity of drawing near.

The approach to kings and principal persons. Bacon.

3. pl. Movements to gain favor; advances.

4. A way, passage, or avenue by which a place or buildings can be approached; an access. Macaulay.

5. pl. (Fort.) The advanced works, trenches, or covered roads made by besiegers in their advances toward a fortress or military post.

6. (Hort.) See Approaching.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.