All 8 Uses of

approach
in
The Time Machine

There was scrub and long grass all about us, and I did not feel safe from their insidious approach.†
Chpt 9 *

approach = get near

VIII 'I found the Palace of Green Porcelain, when we approached it about noon, deserted and falling into ruin.†
Chpt 8

I lit a match, and as I did so, two white forms that had been approaching Weena dashed hastily away.†
Chpt 9

At first I did not realize their blindness, and struck furiously at them with my bar, in a frenzy of fear, as they approached me, killing one and crippling several more.†
Chpt 9

As I approached the pedestal of the sphinx I found the bronze valves were open.†
Chpt 10

Definitions:

(1) (approach as in: approached the city)
to get closer to (near in space, time, quantity, or quality)
(2) (approach as in: use the best approach)
a way of doing something; or a route that leads to a particular place
(3) (approach as in: approached her with the proposal)
to begin communication with someone about something -- often a proposal or a delicate topic
(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.