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Definition of "nearly" []

  • Almost but not quite: The coat nearly fits. (adverb)
  • In a close manner; intimately: a matter nearly affecting our interests. (adverb)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "nearly" in a sentence
  • "In _A. frostiana_ and the pale forms of the species the spores are nearly globose or oval, rarely with a tendency to become elliptical, but _the content is quite constantly finely granular_, while the spores of _A. cothurnata_ are perhaps more constantly globose or nearly so, but the spore is _nearly filled with a highly refractive oil globule or "nucleus.""
  • "You fancy, perhaps, I have not got a friend, and you are nearly right -- _nearly_, but not altogether."
  • "With a perfectly good conductor and a good battery, nearly all the electricity is passed, i.e. _nearly all_ the chemical power becomes transferable, even with a single pair of plates (807.)."