1. To come near or nearer, as in space or time: Spring approaches.
2. Sports. To make an approach, as in golf.

1. To come or go near or nearer to: approached the tunnel.
2. To come close to, as in appearance, quality, or condition; approximate: The performance approaches perfection.
3. To make a proposal or overtures to with a specific end in view: approached the administration for a raise.
4. To begin to deal with or work on: approached the task with dread; approached the issue from a historical perspective.

1. The act of approaching: the approach of night.
2. A fairly close resemblance; an approximation.
3. A way or means of reaching something; an access: an approach to the bridge.
4. The method used in dealing with or accomplishing: a logical approach to the problem.
5. An advance or overture made by one person to another.
6. Sports.
   1. The golf stroke following the drive from the tee with which a player tries to get the ball onto the putting green.
   2. The steps taken prior to executing a competitive maneuver, as by a diver before diving forward from a springboard or by a bowler before delivering the ball.
   3. The part of the area behind the foul line in a bowling alley used by a bowler in delivering the ball.

[Middle English approchen, from Old French aprochier, from Late Latin appropiāre : Latin ad-, ad- + Latin propius, nearer, comparative of prope, near.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.