Word: approach Part of Speech: verb Etymology: 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”)). Pronunciation: /əˈpɹəʊt͡ʃ/, /əˈpɹoʊt͡ʃ/ 1. To come or go near, in place or time; to move toward; to advance nearer; to draw nigh. Labels: intransitive Example: She approached the door cautiously. Example: We were approached by a stranger asking for directions. 2. To play an approach shot. Labels: intransitive 3. Used intransitively, followed by to: to draw near (to someone or something); to make advances; to approximate or become almost equal. Labels: ambitransitive, figuratively Example: He approaches to the character of the ablest statesman. Example: 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. 4. Of an immovable object or a number of such objects: to be positioned as to (notionally) appear to be moving towards (a place). Labels: intransitive, rare, transitive Example: As we drove along the driveway, the trees approaching the house seemed more eerie. Example: [T]here appears a seeming mount, made up of trees rising one higher than another, in proportion as they approach the centre. 5. To move toward (someone or something) in place, time, character, or value; to draw nearer to. Labels: also, figuratively, transitive Example: “Would counsel please approach the bench?” asked the judge. Example: He approached the age of manhood. 6. To bring (something) near something else; to cause (something) to draw near. Labels: transitive Example: "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. 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. Labels: transitive 8. To attempt to make (a policy) or solve (a problem). Labels: transitive Example: 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. To bring up or propose to (someone) an idea, question, request, etc. Labels: transitive Example: "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. To have sexual intercourse with (someone). Labels: archaic, euphemistic, transitive Example: None of you ſhall approche to any that is neere of kinne to him, to vncouer their nakedneſſe: I am the Lord. 11. To take approaches to (a place); to move towards (a place) by using covered roads, trenches, or other works. Labels: transitive