Sentence:  If , in a certain part of the range , it starts life 1 foot longer than do any of the other ( relatively large ) giants , and reaches maturity at , let us guess , 18 inches longer than the others , a quadrupling of the maturity length would result in a maximum of ( <WSD>nearly</WSD> ) 40 feet . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  (of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but