APPROACH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does approach mean? 

• APPROACH (noun)
  The noun APPROACH has 9 senses:

1. ideas or actions intended to deal with a problem or situation

2. the act of drawing spatially closer to something

3. a way of entering or leaving

4. the final path followed by an aircraft as it is landing

5. the event of one object coming closer to another

6. a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others

7. the temporal property of becoming nearer in time

8. a close approximation

9. a relatively short golf shot intended to put the ball onto the putting green

  Familiarity information: APPROACH used as a noun is familiar.

• APPROACH (verb)
  The verb APPROACH has 5 senses:

1. move towards

2. come near or verge on, resemble, come nearer in quality, or character

3. begin to deal with

4. come near in time

5. make advances to someone, usually with a proposal or suggestion

  Familiarity information: APPROACH used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• APPROACH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Ideas or actions intended to deal with a problem or situation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

approach; attack; plan of attack

Context example:

his plan of attack was misguided

Hypernyms ("approach" is a kind of...):

conceptualisation; conceptualization; formulation (inventing or contriving an idea or explanation and formulating it mentally)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "approach"):

avenue (a line of approach)

Derivation:

approach (begin to deal with)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of drawing spatially closer to something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

approach; approaching; coming

Context example:

the hunter's approach scattered the geese

Hypernyms ("approach" is a kind of...):

motion; move; movement (the act of changing location from one place to another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "approach"):

closing; closure (approaching a particular destination; a coming closer; a narrowing of a gap)

landing approach (the approach to a landing field by an airplane)

run-up (the approach run during which an athlete gathers speed)

access (the act of approaching or entering)

Derivation:

approach (move towards)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A way of entering or leaving

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

access; approach

Context example:

he took a wrong turn on the access to the bridge

Hypernyms ("approach" is a kind of...):

way (any artifact consisting of a road or path affording passage from one place to another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "approach"):

entrance; entranceway; entree; entry; entryway (something that provides access (to get in or get out))

Sense 4

Meaning:

The final path followed by an aircraft as it is landing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

approach; approach path; glide path; glide slope

Hypernyms ("approach" is a kind of...):

air lane; airway; flight path; skyway (a designated route followed by airplanes in flying from one airport to another)

Holonyms ("approach" is a part of...):

approach pattern; pattern; traffic pattern (the path that is prescribed for an airplane that is preparing to land at an airport)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The event of one object coming closer to another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

approach; approaching

Hypernyms ("approach" is a kind of...):

motion; movement (a natural event that involves a change in the position or location of something)

Derivation:

approach (move towards)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

advance; approach; feeler; overture

Context example:

she rejected his advances

Hypernyms ("approach" is a kind of...):

proffer; proposition; suggestion (a proposal offered for acceptance or rejection)

Derivation:

approach (make advances to someone, usually with a proposal or suggestion)

Sense 7

Meaning:

The temporal property of becoming nearer in time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

approach; approaching; coming

Context example:

the approach of winter

Hypernyms ("approach" is a kind of...):

timing (the time when something happens)

Derivation:

approach (come near in time)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A close approximation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

the nearest approach to genius

Hypernyms ("approach" is a kind of...):

similarity (the quality of being similar)

Derivation:

approach (come near or verge on, resemble, come nearer in quality, or character)

Sense 9

Meaning:

A relatively short golf shot intended to put the ball onto the putting green

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

approach; approach shot

Context example:

he lost the hole when his approach rolled over the green

Hypernyms ("approach" is a kind of...):

golf shot; golf stroke; swing (the act of swinging a golf club at a golf ball and (usually) hitting it)

Domain category:

golf; golf game (a game played on a large open course with 9 or 18 holes; the object is use as few strokes as possible in playing all the holes)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "approach"):

chip; chip shot ((golf) a low running approach shot)

pitch; pitch shot (a high approach shot in golf)

• APPROACH (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move towards

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

approach; come near; come on; draw close; draw near; go up; near

Context example:

The enemy army came nearer and nearer

Hypernyms (to "approach" is one way to...):

come; come up (move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody)

"Approach" entails doing...:

advance; go on; march on; move on; pass on; progress (move forward, also in the metaphorical sense)

Verb group:

approach; come near (come near in time)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "approach"):

drive up (approach while driving)

bear down on; bear down upon (sail towards another vessel, of a ship)

edge in; edge up (push one's way into (a space))

close (draw near)

crowd; push (approach a certain age or speed)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue approach

Derivation:

approach (the act of drawing spatially closer to something)

approach (the event of one object coming closer to another)

approachable (easily approached)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Come near or verge on, resemble, come nearer in quality, or character

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

approach; border on

Context example:

His playing approaches that of Horowitz

Hypernyms (to "approach" is one way to...):

approximate; come close (be close or similar)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "approach"):

converge (approach a limit as the number of terms increases without limit)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

approach (a close approximation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Begin to deal with

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

approach; go about; set about

Context example:

approach a new project

Hypernyms (to "approach" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "approach"):

confront; face; face up (deal with (something unpleasant) head on)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s VERB-ing

Derivation:

approach (ideas or actions intended to deal with a problem or situation)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Come near in time

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

approach; come near

Context example:

approaching old age

Hypernyms (to "approach" is one way to...):

come; come up (move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody)

Verb group:

approach; come near; come on; draw close; draw near; go up; near (move towards)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "approach"):

get on (grow late or (of time) elapse)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

approach (the temporal property of becoming nearer in time)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make advances to someone, usually with a proposal or suggestion

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

I was approached by the President to serve as his adviser in foreign matters

Hypernyms (to "approach" is one way to...):

accost; address; come up to (speak to someone)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "approach"):

hit (pay unsolicited and usually unwanted sexual attention to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They approach him to write the letter

Derivation:

approach (a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others)

approachable (easy to meet or converse or do business with)

 Context examples 

He can probably tell us all the details we want until we know from what side the case is to be approached.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He had seen oil paintings, it was true, in the show windows of shops, but the glass of the windows had prevented his eager eyes from approaching too near.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

As it approached nearer over the place where I was, it appeared to be a firm substance, the bottom flat, smooth, and shining very bright, from the reflection of the sea below.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

No doubt; and yet it is not quite the way in which I should approach the case.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You have had to be patient and realistic in your approach to this endeavor, for Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn has made this an imperative.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Instead of being buried underground, the solid carbon produced by the method could be used as a fuel source or as feedstock, as the element is in other carbon utilization approaches.

(Scientists Turn CO2 into Solid Coal, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The researchers documented their device working in temperatures that approached 630 degrees Fahrenheit (332 degrees Celsius).

(Harnessing Heat to Power Computers, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Medications that block the orexin receptor, the researchers say, may provide a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of panic disorder.

(The Mechanism of Panic Attacks, NIH, US)

At the time of its closest approach on January 26, the asteroid will be approximately 745,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers) from Earth.

(Asteroid to Fly By Earth on January 26, NASA)

Enabling machines to understand human behavior also could enable new approaches to behavioral diagnosis and rehabilitation for conditions such as autism, dyslexia and depression.

(Computer that Reads Body Language, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)