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Glite Dictionary
far and near

far and near

1 3.7
It happens in many places both near and far
  • idiom
: de cerca y de lejos
  • Birds migrate from far and near to nest in this region during springtime.

Examples

  • The first day involves large numbers of guests from far and near.

    Academic text (1991)

  • We planned to take you to places far and near.

    Blog text (8)

  • He loves the crowd; everywhere you look, people far and near are moving.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • The festival attracts visitors from far and near, celebrating cultures from around the world.

  • The charity event welcomed donations from friends and supporters far and near.

Synonyms

far and wide
vsfar and near
27 2.6

In many places across a large area

has identical meaning but uses a different word order in the phrase
widely
vsfar and near
26 1.0

With a lot of space between things

refers to being in or to all places rather than just being far apart
hither and thither
vsfar and near
  • Archaic
1 9.3

In many different directions and places

describes presence everywhere rather than movement or scattering about

Antonyms

nowhere
∞ 1.0

Not in any place where someone can find it

How Widely

worldwide
213 2.1
far and near
1 3.7
nationally
160 3.0
regionally
9 4.0
locally
127 1.4

Surface Forms

far and near positive

Morphology

far + and + near

The meaning 'in or to all places; everywhere' is directly derivable from the coordinated antonyms 'far' and 'near' joined by 'and', which signals a wide range of locations. This is a common, cross-linguistic compositional pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer the phrase's meaning.

Etymology

The phrase far and near comes from putting far and near together to make a clear picture of looking to places far away and close by. That's why it means 'everywhere' or 'in all places'.