All 3 Uses of
approach
in
The Great Gatsby
- One of the three shops it contained was for rent and another was an all-night restaurant, approached by a trail of ashes; the third was a garage — repairs.
p. 25.0approached = come to
- He was saying some last word to her, but the eagerness in his manner tightened abruptly into formality as several people approached him to say good-by.
p. 52.4approached = got near
- The thing approached the proportions of a scandal — then died away.
p. 57.8 *
Definitions:
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(1)
(approach as in: approached the city) to get closer to (near in space, time, quantity, or quality)
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(2)
(approach as in: use the best approach) a way of doing something; or a route that leads to a particular place
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(3)
(approach as in: approached her with the proposal) to begin communication with someone about something -- often a proposal or a delicate topic
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(4)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely (and typically only in classic literature), the phrase nearest approach to as used in "her nearest approach to an apology" or "her nearest approach to a smile" typically means that "something is as close to something else as it ever gets." "As near an approach to" can have a similar meaning.