approaching

adjectiveadverbverbnouncommon in dialogue

United Kingdom//əˈpɹəʊt͡ʃɪŋ//
United States//əˈpɹoʊt͡ʃɪŋ//

That approaches or approach.

adjective

1
That approaches or approach.
the approaching armies

Etymology

By surface analysis, approach + -ing.

adverb

1
Nearly.
The evacuation of approaching 200,000 people, along with reports of high radiation levels, of burning spent fuel, and apocalyptic footage of plumes of debris erupting from the stricken plant, will revive a question that seemed to have been retreating from global concerns: how safe is nuclear power?

verb

1
Also a form of approachpresent participle and gerund of approach
The army was approaching from the north.

noun

1
The act of coming closer; an approach.
But we can also take a more analytical attitude to these displays, interpreting the movements as no more than approachings, touchings, and departings with no implication that one shape caused the other to move.

Forms

plural: approachings

apprentice · A trainee, especially in a skilled trade.approach · To come or go near, in place or time; to move toward; to…approaches · Movements to gain favour; advances.

approaching · That approaches or approach.

appropriate · To take to oneself; to claim or use, especially as by an…approval · An expression granting permission; an indication of agreement…approve · To officially sanction; to ratify; to confirm; to set as…

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.