approach, approche, approch

i. & t. [Fr. approcher, from proc he = near; Prov. a prop char, from prop i = near; Ital. appros simars i; Old Ital. approcciare Low Lat. approprio, from Lat. ad = to, and prope = near.] A. Intransitive: 1. Of place : To advance to the immediate vicinity of, to draw near. "Daunger vaine it were to have a ayd That cruell element, which all things feare, Ne none can suffer to appro chen neare." Spenser: F. Q., III. xi. 22. "Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight?"-2 Sam . xi. 20. 2. Of time: To draw near, to be not far off. "Behold, thy days approach that thou must die." Deut. xxx i. 14. 3. Figuratively: (a) Gen. To draw near to in other respects; as in aim, in attainments, or in intellectual or moral character. "To have knowledge in all the objects of contemplation, is what the mind can hardly attain unto the instances are few of those who have, in any measure, approached towards it."-Locke. (b) In Scripture (Spec.): To have near acce of a spiritual kind to God. "I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the Lord." Jer . xxx. 21. B. Transitive : +1. Really transitive: To cause to draw near. "By plunging paper thoroughly in weak spirit of wine, and approaching it to a candle, the spirituous parts will burn without harming the paper."- Boyle . 2. Only apparently so, there being an ellipsis of to: To draw near to in place, in time, or in any other way. "It was indeed scarcely safe to approach him [that is (to) him]."-Macaulay: Hist. Eng., ch. vii. ""He was an admirable poet, and thought even to have approached Homer."- Temple.