v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Approached; p. pr. & vb. n. Approaching. ] [ OE. approchen, aprochen, OF. approcher, LL. appropriare, fr. L. ad + propiare to draw near, prope near. ] 1. To come or go near, in place or time; to draw nigh; to advance nearer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city? 2 Sam. xi. 20. [ 1913 Webster ]

But exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Heb. x. 25. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To draw near, in a figurative sense; to make advances; to approximate; as, he approaches to the character of the ablest statesman. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To bring near; to cause to draw near; to advance. [ Archaic ] Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To come near to in place, time, or character; to draw nearer to; as, to approach the city; to approach my cabin; he approached the age of manhood. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was an admirable poet, and thought even to have approached Homer. Temple. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mil.) To take approaches to. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. approche. See Approach, v. i. ] 1. The act of drawing near; a coming or advancing near. “The approach of summer.” Horsley. [ 1913 Webster ]

A nearer approach to the human type. Owen. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A access, or opportunity of drawing near. [ 1913 Webster ]

The approach to kings and principal persons. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. pl. Movements to gain favor; advances. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A way, passage, or avenue by which a place or buildings can be approached; an access. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. pl. (Fort.) The advanced works, trenches, or covered roads made by besiegers in their advances toward a fortress or military post. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Hort.) See Approaching. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Golf) A stroke whose object is to land the ball on the putting green. It is made with an iron club. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

8. (Aviation) that part of a flight during which an airplane descends toward the landing strip. [ PJC ]

9. (Bowling) the steps taken by a bowler just before delivering the ball toward the pins. [ PJC. ]

n. The quality of being approachable; approachableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being approached; accessible; as, approachable virtue. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being approachable; accessibility. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who approaches. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Hort.) The act of ingrafting a sprig or shoot of one tree into another, without cutting it from the parent stock; -- called, also, inarching and grafting by approach. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Impossible to be approached. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. approachement. ] Approach. [ Archaic ] Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. approbatus, p. p. of approbare to approve. ] Approved. [ Obs. ] Elyot. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To express approbation of; to approve; to sanction officially. [ 1913 Webster ]

I approbate the one, I reprobate the other. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This word is obsolete in England, but is occasionally heard in the United States, chiefly in a technical sense for license; as, a person is approbated to preach; approbated to keep a public house. Pickering (1816). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. approbatio: cf. F. approbation. See Approve to prove. ] 1. Proof; attestation. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of approving; an assenting to the propriety of a thing with some degree of pleasure or satisfaction; approval; sanction; commendation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Many . . . joined in a loud hum of approbation. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

The silent approbation of one's own breast. Melmoth. [ 1913 Webster ]

Animals . . . love approbation or praise. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Probation or novitiate. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

This day my sister should the cloister enter,
And there receive her approbation. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Approval; liking; sanction; consent; concurrence. -- Approbation, Approval. Approbation and approval have the same general meaning, assenting to or declaring as good, sanction, commendation; but approbation is stronger and more positive. “We may be anxious for the approbation of our friends; but we should be still more anxious for the approval of our own consciences.” “He who is desirous to obtain universal approbation will learn a good lesson from the fable of the old man and his ass.” “The work has been examined by several excellent judges, who have expressed their unqualified approval of its plan and execution.” [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. approbatif. ] Approving, or implying approbation. Milner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The quality of being approbative. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Phren.) Love of approbation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ] One who approves. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Containing or expressing approbation; commendatory. Sheldon. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. ad- + promt. ] To quicken; to prompt. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To appromt our invention. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Approve, and Proof. ] 1. Trial; proof. [ Archaic ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Approval; commendation. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ L. appropinquatus, p. p. of appropinquare; ad + prope near. ] To approach. [ Archaic ] Ld. Lytton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. appropinquatio. ] A drawing nigh; approach. [ R. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. ad- + propinquity. ] Nearness; propinquity. [ R. ] J. Gregory. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ OE. appropren, apropren, OF. approprier, fr. L. appropriare. See Appropriate. ] To appropriate. [ Obs. ] Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Appropriate. ] Capable of being appropriated, set apart, sequestered, or assigned exclusively to a particular use. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. What is peculiarly one's own; peculiar qualification. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

If you can neglect
Your own appropriaments. Ford. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. appropriatus, p. p. of appropriare; ad + propriare to appropriate, fr. proprius one's own, proper. See Proper. ] Set apart for a particular use or person. Hence: Belonging peculiarly; peculiar; suitable; fit; proper. [ 1913 Webster ]

In its strict and appropriate meaning. Porteus. [ 1913 Webster ]

Appropriate acts of divine worship. Stillingfleet. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is not at all times easy to find words appropriate to express our ideas. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Appropriated p. pr. & vb. n. Appropriating ] 1. To take to one's self in exclusion of others; to claim or use as by an exclusive right; as, let no man appropriate the use of a common benefit. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To set apart for, or assign to, a particular person or use, in exclusion of all others; -- with to or for; as, a spot of ground is appropriated for a garden; to appropriate money for the increase of the navy. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To make suitable; to suit. [ Archaic ] Paley. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Eng. Eccl. Law) To annex, as a benefice, to a spiritual corporation, as its property. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A property; attribute. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. 1 taken without permission or consent especially by public authority.
Syn. -- confiscate, confiscated, seized, taken over. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. In an appropriate or proper manner; fitly; properly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being appropriate; peculiar fitness. Froude. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. appropriatio: cf. F. appropriation. ] 1. The act of setting apart or assigning to a particular use or person, or of taking to one's self, in exclusion of all others; application to a special use or purpose, as of a piece of ground for a park, or of money to carry out some object. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Anything, especially money, thus set apart. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Commons watched carefully over the appropriation. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Law) (a) The severing or sequestering of a benefice to the perpetual use of a spiritual corporation. Blackstone. (b) The application of payment of money by a debtor to his creditor, to one of several debts which are due from the former to the latter. Chitty. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Appropriating; making, or tending to, appropriation; as, an appropriative act. -- Ap*pro"pri*a*tive*ness, n. [1913 Webster]

n. 1. One who appropriates. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) A spiritual corporation possessed of an appropriated benefice; also, an impropriator. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Worthy of being approved; meritorious. -- Ap*prov"a*ble*ness, n. [1913 Webster]

n. Approbation; sanction. [ 1913 Webster ]

A censor . . . without whose approval n&unr_; capital sentences are to be executed. Temple. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Approbation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Approval. [ Archaic ] Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Approved p. pr. & vb. n. Approving. ] [ OE. aproven, appreven, to prove, OF. aprover, F. approuver, to approve, fr. L. approbare; ad + probare to esteem as good, approve, prove. See Prove, and cf. Approbate. ] 1. To show to be real or true; to prove. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Wouldst thou approve thy constancy? Approve
First thy obedience. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make proof of; to demonstrate; to prove or show practically. [ 1913 Webster ]

Opportunities to approve . . . worth. Emerson. [ 1913 Webster ]

He had approved himself a great warrior. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

'T is an old lesson; Time approves it true. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

His account . . . approves him a man of thought. Parkman. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To sanction officially; to ratify; to confirm; as, to approve the decision of a court-martial. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To regard as good; to commend; to be pleased with; to think well of; as, we approve the measured of the administration. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To make or show to be worthy of approbation or acceptance. [ 1913 Webster ]

The first care and concern must be to approve himself to God. Rogers. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This word, when it signifies to be pleased with, to think favorably (of), is often followed by of. [ 1913 Webster ]

They had not approved of the deposition of James. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

They approved of the political institutions. W. Black. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ OF. aprouer; a (L. ad) + a form apparently derived fr. the pro, prod, in L. prodest it is useful or profitable, properly the preposition pro for. Cf. Improve. ] (Eng. Law) To make profit of; to convert to one's own profit; -- said esp. of waste or common land appropriated by the lord of the manor. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. So as to secure approbation; in an approved manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Obs. ] 1. Approbation. [ 1913 Webster ]

I did nothing without your approvement. Hayward. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Eng. Law) a confession of guilt by a prisoner charged with treason or felony, together with an accusation of his accomplish and a giving evidence against them in order to obtain his own pardon. The term is no longer in use; it corresponded to what is now known as turning king's (or queen's) evidence in England, and state's evidence in the United States. Burrill. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Old Eng. Law) Improvement of common lands, by inclosing and converting them to the uses of husbandry for the advantage of the lord of the manor. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who approves. Formerly, one who made proof or trial. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An informer; an accuser. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Eng. Law) One who confesses a crime and accuses another. See 1st Approvement, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See 2d Approve, v. t. ] (Eng. Law) A bailiff or steward; an agent. [ Obs. ] Jacobs. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Expressing approbation; commending; as, an approving smile. -- Ap*prov"ing*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

a. [ L. approximatus, p. p. of approximare to approach; ad + proximare to come near. See Proximate. ] 1. Approaching; proximate; nearly resembling. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Near correctness; nearly exact; not perfectly accurate; as, approximate results or values. [ 1913 Webster ]

Approximate quantities (Math.), those which are nearly, but not, equal. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Approximated p. pr. & vb. n. Approximating. ] 1. To carry or advance near; to cause to approach. [ 1913 Webster ]

To approximate the inequality of riches to the level of nature. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To come near to; to approach. [ 1913 Webster ]

The telescope approximates perfection. J. Morse. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To draw; to approach. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With approximation; so as to approximate; nearly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. approximation, LL. approximatio. ] 1. The act of approximating; a drawing, advancing or being near; approach; also, the result of approximating. [ 1913 Webster ]

The largest capacity and the most noble dispositions are but an approximation to the proper standard and true symmetry of human nature. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An approach to a correct estimate, calculation, or conception, or to a given quantity, quality, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Math.) (a) A continual approach or coming nearer to a result; as, to solve an equation by approximation. (b) A value that is nearly but not exactly correct. [ 1913 Webster ]