| almost |
| 1. adv. Very close to, but not quite. | |
| Almost all people went there. - Not all but very close to it. | |
| We almost missed the train. - Not missed but very close to it. | |
| 2. n. (informal) Something or someone that doesn't quite make it. | |
| In all the submissions, they found four papers that were clearly worth publishing and another dozen almosts. | |
| obsolete |
| 1. adj. (of words, equipment, etc.) No longer in use; gone into disuse; disused or neglected (often by preference for something newer, which replaces the subject). | |
| It is speculated that, within a few years, the Internet's speedy delivery of news worldwide will make newspapers obsolete. | |
| 2. adj. (biology) Imperfectly developed; not very distinct. | |
| 3. v. (transitive, US) To cause to become obsolete. | |
| This software component has been obsoleted. | |
| We are in the process of obsoleting this product. | |
| nearing |
| 1. v. present participle of near | |
| near |
| 1. adj. Physically close. | |
| 2. adj. Closely connected or related. | |
| 3. adj. Close to one's interests, affection, etc.; intimate; dear. | |
| a near friend | |
| 4. adj. Close to anything followed or imitated; not free, loose, or rambling. | |
| a version near to the original | |
| 5. adj. So as barely to avoid or pass injury or loss; close; narrow. | |
| a near escape | |
| 6. adj. (of an event) Approaching. | |
| The end is near. | |
| 7. adj. Approximate, almost. | |
| The two words are near synonyms. | |
| 8. adj. (dated) Next to the driver, when he is on foot; (US) on the left of an animal or a team. | |
| the near ox; the near leg | |
| 9. adj. (obsolete) Immediate; direct; close; short. | |
| 10. adj. (obsolete, slang) Stingy; parsimonious. | |
| 11. adv. Having a small intervening distance with regard to something. | |
| I'm near-sighted. | |
| 12. adv. (colloquial) nearly | |
| 13. prep. Close to, in close proximity to. | |
| There are habitable planets orbiting many of the stars near our Sun. | |
| 14. prep. Close to in time. | |
| The voyage was near completion. | |
| 15. v. To come closer to; to approach. | |
| The ship nears the land. | |
| 16. n. The left side of a horse or of a team of horses pulling a carriage etc. | |
| an |
| 1. art. Form of a used before a vowel sound | |
| 2. art. (now quite rare) Form of a used before 'h' in an unstressed syllable | |
| 3. art. (nonstandard) Form of a used before 'h' in a stressed syllable | |
| 4. conj. (archaic) If | |
| 5. conj. (archaic) So long as. | |
| An it harm none, do what ye will. | |
| 6. conj. (archaic) As if; as though. | |
| 7. n. The first letter of the Georgian alphabet, ა (Mkhedruli), Ⴀ (Asomtavruli) or ⴀ (Nuskhuri). | |
| 8. prep. In each; to or for each; per. | |
| I was only going twenty miles an hour. | |
| End |
| 1. n. A key that when pressed causes the cursor to go to the last character of the current line. | |
| 2. n. The terminal point of something in space or time. | |
| At the end of the road, turn left. | |
| At the end of the story, the main characters fall in love. | |
| 3. n. (by extension) (euphemistic) The cessation of an effort, activity, state, or motion. | |
| Is there no end to this madness? | |
| 4. n. (by extension) Death, especially miserable. | |
| He met a terrible end in the jungle. | |
| I hope the end comes quickly. | |
| 5. n. The most extreme point of an object, especially one that is longer than it is wide. | |
| Hold the string at both ends. | |
| My father always sat at the end of the table. | |
| 6. n. Result. | |
| 7. n. A purpose, goal, or aim. | |
| 8. n. (cricket) One of the two parts of the ground used as a descriptive name for half of the ground. | |
| The Pavillion End | |
| 9. n. (American football) The position at the end of either the offensive or defensive line, a tight end, a split end, a defensive end. | |
| 10. n. (curling) A period of play in which each team throws eight rocks, two per player, in alternating fashion. | |
| 11. n. (mathematics) An ideal point of a graph or other complex. | |
| 12. n. That which is left; a remnant; a fragment; a scrap. | |
| odds and ends | |
| 13. n. One of the yarns of the worsted warp in a Brussels carpet. | |
| 14. v. To finish, terminate. | |
| Is this movie never going to end? | |
| The lesson will end when the bell rings. | |
| The referee blew the whistle to end the game. | |
