approach

 
Pronunciation: /əˈprəʊtʃ/

verb

[with object]
  • 1come near or nearer to (someone or something) in distance or time: the train approached the main line [no object]: winter was approaching (as adjective approaching) an approaching car
  • come close to (a number, level, or standard) in quality or quantity: the population will approach 12 million by the end of the decade
  • archaic bring nearer: all those changes shall serve to approach him the faster to the blest mansion
  • 2speak to (someone) for the first time about a proposal or request: the department had been approached about funding
  • 3start to deal with (a situation or problem) in a certain way: one must approach the matter with caution

noun

  • 1a way of dealing with a situation or problem: we need a whole new approach to the job
  • 2an initial proposal or request made to someone: the landowner made an approach to the developer
  • (approaches) dated behaviour intended to propose personal or sexual relations with someone: feminine resistance to his approaches
  • 3 [in singular] the action of coming near or nearer to someone or something in distance or time: the approach of winter
  • (approach to) an approximation to something: the past is impossible to recall with any approach to accuracy
  • the part of an aircraft’s flight in which it descends gradually towards an airfield or runway for landing: I used to trim the plane back to about 50 mph for the final approach
  • (usually approaches) a road, sea passage, or other way leading to a place: the northern approaches to London

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French aprochier, aprocher, from ecclesiastical Latin appropiare 'draw near', from ad- 'to' + propius (comparative of prope 'near')