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CLOSE AT HAND
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Close in time; about to occur
Example:
his impending retirement
Synonyms:
at hand; close at hand; imminent; impendent; impending
Classified under:
Similar:
close (at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Close in space; within reach
Example:
the town is close at hand
Synonyms:
at hand; close at hand
Classified under:
Similar:
close (at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other)
Context examples:
And to-night I shall not fear to sleep, since he is close at hand and within call.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
My aunt, however (who has sold the house at Dover, to good advantage), is not going to remain here, but intends removing herself to a still more tiny cottage close at hand.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
A stern, clear bugle call had sounded close at hand to summon some following together for the night.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
"All men must die," said a voice quite close at hand; "but all are not condemned to meet a lingering and premature doom, such as yours would be if you perished here of want."
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
There was no one in the kitchen or in the servants' rooms, which were close at hand.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
There are but few houses close at hand, one being a very large house only recently added to and formed into a private lunatic asylum.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
It was finally agreed that before starting for Piccadilly we should destroy the Count's lair close at hand.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
And so, after asking where there might be close at hand a ship where he might purchase ship forms, he departed.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
There wasn't much people about that day, and close at hand was only one man, a tall, thin chap, with a 'ook nose and a pointed beard, with a few white hairs runnin' through it.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
She wanted her life shaped now, immediately—and the decision must be made by some force—of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality—that was close at hand.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
