Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🚶 Coming closer ⏳ Happening soon
approaching

approaching

11 2.7
The coming closer in time or space
  • noun
  • /əˈproʊtʃɪŋ/
translation icon : aproximación
  • The time to help is now," Basmajian said, noting that with the Christmas and New Year gift-giving season approaching, families should "promise to give one gift less and use that money to donate to the Armenians of Syria."
  • Vehicle Approaching
  • Car Approaching
  • Motorcycle Approaching

Examples

  • With the ferry approaching, Chuck Reese (22) honks at the wheel.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • As the date of the approaching exam was nearing, I felt more anxious about my preparation.

  • And the year is approaching to an end fast.

  • Now winter's approaching; it would be nice.

    Blog text (21)

  • In the distance, we can hear the thumping approaching.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • He felt his own December approaching.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The vision that had come most frequently to him, in the years before her death, was of her approaching with plants and flowering shrubs, working on hands and knees; she, who would finally discover in widowhood the meditation of horticulture.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The approaching storm compelled us to seek shelter indoors.

  • The sound of approaching footsteps made her turn to see who was coming.

Synonyms

proximity
vsapproaching
112 4.2

Nearness in space, time, or relationship

describes the active process of getting nearer rather than a static state
coming
vsapproaching
81 1.0

Arrival of something or someone

focuses on the ongoing process of getting nearer rather than arrival
approach
vsapproaching
24 3.0

The coming nearer of a time, for example a deadline

includes closeness in both space and time rather than time only
nearness
vsapproaching
4 1.0

The state of being close in place, time, or feeling

focuses on the action of getting nearer rather than a static closeness
converging
vsapproaching
5.6

Things coming together at the same point

can mean getting nearer without implying a meeting at one point

Antonyms

receding
4.1

A hairline or chin that moves slowly back from the forehead so it looks less noticeable

departing
1.3

About to leave a place or just left it

How Imminent

at your door
8 3.5
imminent
168 4.8
approaching
11 2.7
distant
110 2.9

Surface Forms

approaching singular
approachings plural

Morphology

approaching = approach (transparent) = approach + ing

Formed regularly from the verb 'approach' with the productive English suffix '-ing' to denote the action or ongoing state, which learners can readily interpret.

Etymology

Approaching comes from old parts that mean 'to' (ad-) and 'near' (prope), and you see the same idea in proximity. So as a noun, approaching is the act of coming 'near' in time or space.