Approach | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Ap-prōach', v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. [imp. & p. p. APPROACHED; p. pr. & vb. n. APPROACHING.] [Fr. approcher, Pr. apropchar, O. It. approcciare, L. Lat. appropriare, from Lat. ad and propriare, to draw near, from propius, comp. of prope, near; Fr. proche, Pr. propi.]

Sense 1. To come or go near, in place or time; to draw near; to advance nearer.

Wherefore approached ye so nigh the city? 2 Sam. xi. 20.

Wherefore exhorting each other; and so much the more as ye see the day approaching. Heb. x. 25.

Sense 2. To draw near, in a figurative sense; to make advances; to approximate; as, he approaches to the character of the ablest statesman.

Ap-prōach', v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. 1. To bring near; to cause to draw near; to advance. [Rare.] Boyle.

Even as a resolved general approaches his camp . . . as nearly as he can to the besieged city. W. Scott.

Sense 2. To come near to; to approximate.

He was an admirable poet, and thought even to have approached Homer. Temple.

☞ This use of the word is elliptical, to being omitted, so that the verb can hardly be said to be transitive.

Ap-prōach', n.

noun

n. [Fr. approche. See supra.]

The act of drawing near; a coming or advancing near. “The approach of summer.” Horsley.
Access, or opportunity of drawing near. “The approach to kings.” Bacon.
A passage or avenue by which buildings are approached.
pl. (Fort.) The works thrown up by besiegers, to protect them in their advances toward a fortress.