APPROACHING

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does approaching mean? 

• APPROACHING (noun)
  The noun APPROACHING has 3 senses:

1. the event of one object coming closer to another

2. the temporal property of becoming nearer in time

3. the act of drawing spatially closer to something

  Familiarity information: APPROACHING used as a noun is uncommon.

• APPROACHING (adjective)
  The adjective APPROACHING has 1 sense:

1. of the relatively near future

  Familiarity information: APPROACHING used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• APPROACHING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The event of one object coming closer to another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

approach; approaching

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

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

Sense 2

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 ("approaching" is a kind of...):

timing (the time when something happens)

Sense 3

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 ("approaching" 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 "approaching"):

access (the act of approaching or entering)

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)

• APPROACHING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of the relatively near future

Synonyms:

approaching; coming; forthcoming; upcoming

Context example:

the upcoming spring fashions

Similar:

future (yet to be or coming)

 Context examples 

In respectful silence we took the places assigned to us close round the tomb, but hidden from the sight of any one approaching.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I had glanced occasionally at the approaching schooner, and it was now almost abreast of us and not more than a couple of hundred yards away.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I had been in Yarmouth when the seamen said it blew great guns, but I had never known the like of this, or anything approaching to it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Yes, said he, there is no better way of approaching it.

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

She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding.

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

The different lines were rapidly approaching a point.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

With this idea in her head, she hailed an approaching omnibus with such a hasty gesture that the daisies flew out of the pot and were badly damaged.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

You likely felt the approaching slowdown of Mercury well in advance of its official turnaround date (October 31), with delays, postponements, cancellations, electronic problems, machine repairs, and indecision from VIPs to have projects approved.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

At two o’clock the raven could be seen approaching, and this time her coachman and everything about her, as well as her horses, were black.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

It was, indeed, a most pleasant portion of the island that we were now approaching.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)