approach

verb

1. (intransitive)To come or go near, in place or time; to move toward; to advance nearer; to draw nigh.

   “She approached the door cautiously.”

   “We were approached by a stranger asking for directions.”

   “The deadline is fast approaching.”

   “Approach thou beacon [the Sun] to this vnder gloabe, That by thy comfortable beames I may Peruſe this letter, nothing almoſt ſees my wracke But miſerie.”

   “And if ſo be that the kings wrath ariſe, and hee ſay vnto thee, wherefore approched ye ſo nigh vnto the city when yee did fight? Knew yee not that they would ſhoot from the wall?”

2. (intransitive)To play an approach shot.
3. (ambitransitive, figuratively)Used intransitively, followed by to: to draw near (to someone or something); to make advances; to approximate or become almost equal.

   “He approaches to the character of the ablest statesman.”

   “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.”

   “Without these incentives to industry the Norwegian would be like the Laplander, without industry and civilisation; and the nearer he approaches to the beau idéal of those political economists—to the state of being without a taste for these foreign and expensive luxuries—the nearer he approaches to the condition of the Laplander in the comforts and enjoyments of life.”

4. (intransitive, rare, transitive)Of an immovable object or a number of such objects: to be positioned as to (notionally) appear to be moving towards (a place).

   “As we drove along the driveway, the trees approaching the house seemed more eerie.”

   “[T]here appears a seeming mount, made up of trees rising one higher than another, in proportion as they approach the centre.”

5. (also, figuratively, transitive)To move toward (someone or something) in place, time, character, or value; to draw nearer to.

   ““Would counsel please approach the bench?” asked the judge.”

   “He approached the age of manhood.”

   “Approch the Chamber, and deſtroy your ſight With a new Gorgon.”

   “He [Empedocles] was an admirable Poet, and thought even to have approached Homer, in a Poem he writ of Natural Philoſophy; [...]”

   “[…] I ſtuck all the Ground without my Wall, for a great way every way, as full with Stakes or Sticks of the Osier-like Wood, which I found ſo apt to grow, as they could well ſtand; inſomuch, that I believe I might ſet in near twenty thouſand of them, leaving a pretty large Space between them and my Wall, that I might have room to ſee an Enemy, and they might have no ſhelter from the young Trees, if they attempted to approach my outer Wall.”

6. (transitive)To bring (something) near something else; to cause (something) to draw near.

   “"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. (transitive)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.
8. (transitive)To attempt to make (a policy) or solve (a problem).

   “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. (transitive)To bring up or propose to (someone) an idea, question, request, etc.

   “"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. (archaic, euphemistic, transitive)To have sexual intercourse with (someone).

    “None of you ſhall approche to any that is neere of kinne to him, to vncouer their nakedneſſe: I am the Lord.”

11. (transitive)To take approaches to (a place); to move towards (a place) by using covered roads, trenches, or other works.

noun

1. (also, figuratively)An act of drawing near in place or time; an advancing or coming near.

   “Ah, what a ſigne it is of euill life, Where death's approach is ſeene ſo terrible.”

   “Nauar had notice of your faire approch. And he and his compettitours in oth, Were all addreſt to meete you gentle Lady Before I came: […]”

   “Theſe Things, and the Approach of Night, called us off, or elſe, as Friday would have had us, we ſhould certainly have taken the Skin of this monſtrous Creature off, which was worth ſaving; but we had near three Leagues to go, and our Guide haſten'd us; ſo we left him, and went forward on our Journey.”

   “She comes! the Cloud-compelling pow'r, behold! With night primæval, and with Chaos old. […] Thus at her felt approach, and ſecret might, Art after Art goes out, and all is Night.”

   “The approach of summer, says our Lord, is not more surely indicated by the first appearances of spring, than the final destruction of the wicked by the beginnings of vengeance on this impenitent people.”

2. An act of coming near in character or value; an approximation.

   “The canine, judging from the figures published by M. [Édouard] Lartet, seems to be less developed than in the male chimpanzees, gorillas and orang. In which character the fossil, if it belonged to a male, makes a nearer approach to the human type; but it is one which many of the inferior monkeys also exhibit, and is by no means to be trusted as significant of true affinity, supposing even the sex of the fossil to be known as being male.”

3. (also, figuratively)An avenue, passage, or way by which a building or place can be approached; an access.

   “Where are my lines then? my approaches? views? Where are my window-ſongs?”

   “[…] he ſaw As of the ſun or moon illuming clear The palace of Phæacia's mighty King. […] Maſtiffs, in gold and ſilver, lined the approach On either ſide, by art celeſtial framed Of Vulcan, guardian of Alcinoüs gate For ever, unobnoxious to decay.”

   “It was, therefore, natural to expect that the main attack would come from the north along the railroad, and from the east, where the approach from the Transvaal boundary, which is there marked by the Buffalo River, is over a country much more practicable than the western mountain range.”

4. (also, figuratively)An avenue, passage, or way by which a building or place can be approached; an access.
5. (figuratively)A manner of making (a policy) or solving (a problem, etc.).

   “Our proposed definitional approach to the data processing-communications dilemma evoked considerable discussion. There is uniform disagreement and confusion as to the regulatory implications of the proposed definitional terms.”

   “Its [the United States Environmental Protection Agency's] initial approach to controlling the amount of lead in the ambient air was to limit lead emissions from automobiles by restricting the amount of lead in gasoline.”

6. (archaic)An opportunity of drawing near; access.

   “Honour hath three Things in it: The Vantage Ground to doe Good: The approach to Kings and principall Persons: And the Raiſing of a Mans owne Fortunes.”

   “The Learned met with free Approach, Although they came not in a Coach.”

   “Now, rais'd again from low approach, She [a pin] viſits in the doctor's coach; Here, there, by various fortune toſt, At laſt in Greſham hall was loſt.”

   “Nor, though placed amongst a ruthless crew and every hour passed by ruthless hands, and through the livelong nights shrouded with thick darkness which might cover any pilfering approach, nevertheless every sunrise found the doubloon where the sunset left it last.”

7. (also, attributive)The way an aircraft comes in to land at an airport.

   “Most small airplanes maintain a speed well in excess of 1.3 times V_(SO) on an instrument approach. An airplane with a stall speed of 50 knots (V_(SO)) has a normal approach speed of 65 knots.”

8. (also, attributive)The way an aircraft comes in to land at an airport.

   “We flew the RNAV/GPS A approach to runway 16.”

9. The area before the lane in which a bowler may stand or run up before bowling the ball.
10. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis)Ellipsis of approach shot.