nears

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of near.

   As winter nears, the daylight hours grow noticeably shorter.

   The ship nears the harbor after a long voyage across the Atlantic.

   Note

   The -s form of a verb that works with or without an object. Something can near a place, as when the ship nears the harbor. It can also simply near, with no destination named, as in "winter nears." Both patterns use this same form with a singular subject. The identical spelling also serves as the noun plural.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of near.

   Note

   A plural that belongs to a rare noun, since the everyday adjective takes no plural at all. One meaning of that noun is the left side of a horse, or of a team pulling a carriage. In Derbyshire dialect, near could also mean a kidney, so nears there would mean kidneys. Elsewhere the same spelling is usually the verb of approaching.

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