next
♦♦♦ next /n'ekst/
1 [ORD]
The next period of time, event, person, or thing is the one that comes immediately after the present one or after the previous one.
I got up early the next morning.
...the next available flight...
Who will be the next prime minister?...
I want my next child born at home...
Many senior citizens have very few visitors from one week to the next...
2 [DET]
You use next in expressions such as next Friday, next day and next year to refer, for example, to the first Friday, day, or year that comes after the present or previous one.
Let's plan a big night next week...
He retires next January...
Next day the EU summit strengthened their ultimatum.
[ADJ] n ADJ
Next is also an adjective.
I shall be 26 years old on Friday next.
[PRON]
Next is also a pronoun.
He predicted that the region's economy would grow by about six per cent both this year and next.
3 [ADJ] det ADJ
The next place or person is the one that is nearest to you or that is the first one that you come to.
Grace sighed so heavily that Trish could hear it in the next room...
The man in the next chair was asleep...
Stop at the next corner. I'm getting out.
4 [ADV] ADV with cl, ADV after v, be ADV
The thing that happens next is the thing that happens immediately after something else.
Next, close your eyes then screw them up tight...
I don't know what to do next...
The news is next.
5 [ADV] ADV before v
When you next do something, you do it for the first time since you last did it.
I next saw him at his house in Berkshire...
When we next met, he was much more jovial.
6 [ADV] ADV adj-superl
You use next to say that something has more of a particular quality than all other things except one. For example, the thing that is next best is the one that is the best except for one other thing.
The one thing he didn't have was a son. I think he's felt that a grandson is the next best thing...
At least three times more daffodils are grown than in Holland, the next largest grower.
= second
7 [PHRASE] n PHR
You use after next in expressions such as the week after next to refer to a period of time after the next one. For example, when it is May, the month after next is July.
...the party's annual conference, to be held in Bournemouth the week after next.
8 [PHRASE] as group PHR
If you say that you do something or experience something as much as the next person, you mean that you are no different from anyone else in the respect mentioned.
I'm as ambitious as the next man. I'd like to manage at the very highest level.
9 [PREP-PHRASE]
If one thing is next to another thing, it is at the other side of it.
She sat down next to him on the sofa.
...at the southern end of the Gaza Strip next to the Egyptian border...
The car was parked in the small weedy lot next to the hotel.
= beside
10 [PREP-PHRASE]
You use next to in order to give the most important aspect of something when comparing it with another aspect.
Her children were the number two priority in her life next to her career...
= after
11 [PHRASE] PHR after v, v-link PHR, PHR nothing/adj
You use next to before a negative, or a word that suggests something negative, to mean almost, but not completely.
Johnson still knew next to nothing about tobacco...
Most pre-prepared weight loss products are next to useless.
= virtuallynext door
The adjective is also spelled next-door.
1 [ADV] ADV after v, be ADV, n ADV
If a room or building is next door, it is the next one to the right or left.
I went next door to the bathroom...
She was next door at the time.
...the old lady who lived next door...
The flat next door was empty.
[ADJ] ADJ n
Next door is also an adjective.
She wandered back into the next door room...
The wires trailed through other parts of the HQ into a next door building.
[PREP-PHRASE]
If a room or building is next door to another one, it is the next one to the left or right.
The kitchen is right next door to the dining room.
2 [ADV] n ADV
The people next door are the people who live in the house or flat to the right or left of yours.
The neighbors thought the family next door had moved.
[ADJ] ADJ n
Next door is also an adjective.
Our next door neighbour knocked on the door to say that our car had been stolen.
3 [PHRASE]
If you refer to someone as the boy next door or the girl next door, you mean that they are pleasant and respectable but rather dull.
She was the girl-next-door type.next door's
[DET]
You can use next door's to indicate that something belongs to the person or people who live in the house to the right or left of your own.
...next door's dog.next of kin
[N-UNCOUNT-COLL]
Next of kin is sometimes used to refer to the person who is your closest relative, especially in official or legal documents. (FORMAL)
We have notified the next of kin.
1 [ORD]
The next period of time, event, person, or thing is the one that comes immediately after the present one or after the previous one.
I got up early the next morning.
...the next available flight...
Who will be the next prime minister?...
I want my next child born at home...
Many senior citizens have very few visitors from one week to the next...
2 [DET]
You use next in expressions such as next Friday, next day and next year to refer, for example, to the first Friday, day, or year that comes after the present or previous one.
Let's plan a big night next week...
He retires next January...
Next day the EU summit strengthened their ultimatum.
[ADJ] n ADJ
Next is also an adjective.
I shall be 26 years old on Friday next.
[PRON]
Next is also a pronoun.
He predicted that the region's economy would grow by about six per cent both this year and next.
3 [ADJ] det ADJ
The next place or person is the one that is nearest to you or that is the first one that you come to.
Grace sighed so heavily that Trish could hear it in the next room...
The man in the next chair was asleep...
Stop at the next corner. I'm getting out.
4 [ADV] ADV with cl, ADV after v, be ADV
The thing that happens next is the thing that happens immediately after something else.
Next, close your eyes then screw them up tight...
I don't know what to do next...
The news is next.
5 [ADV] ADV before v
When you next do something, you do it for the first time since you last did it.
I next saw him at his house in Berkshire...
When we next met, he was much more jovial.
6 [ADV] ADV adj-superl
You use next to say that something has more of a particular quality than all other things except one. For example, the thing that is next best is the one that is the best except for one other thing.
The one thing he didn't have was a son. I think he's felt that a grandson is the next best thing...
At least three times more daffodils are grown than in Holland, the next largest grower.
= second
7 [PHRASE] n PHR
You use after next in expressions such as the week after next to refer to a period of time after the next one. For example, when it is May, the month after next is July.
...the party's annual conference, to be held in Bournemouth the week after next.
8 [PHRASE] as group PHR
If you say that you do something or experience something as much as the next person, you mean that you are no different from anyone else in the respect mentioned.
I'm as ambitious as the next man. I'd like to manage at the very highest level.
9 [PREP-PHRASE]
If one thing is next to another thing, it is at the other side of it.
She sat down next to him on the sofa.
...at the southern end of the Gaza Strip next to the Egyptian border...
The car was parked in the small weedy lot next to the hotel.
= beside
10 [PREP-PHRASE]
You use next to in order to give the most important aspect of something when comparing it with another aspect.
Her children were the number two priority in her life next to her career...
= after
11 [PHRASE] PHR after v, v-link PHR, PHR nothing/adj
You use next to before a negative, or a word that suggests something negative, to mean almost, but not completely.
Johnson still knew next to nothing about tobacco...
Most pre-prepared weight loss products are next to useless.
= virtuallynext door
The adjective is also spelled next-door.
1 [ADV] ADV after v, be ADV, n ADV
If a room or building is next door, it is the next one to the right or left.
I went next door to the bathroom...
She was next door at the time.
...the old lady who lived next door...
The flat next door was empty.
[ADJ] ADJ n
Next door is also an adjective.
She wandered back into the next door room...
The wires trailed through other parts of the HQ into a next door building.
[PREP-PHRASE]
If a room or building is next door to another one, it is the next one to the left or right.
The kitchen is right next door to the dining room.
2 [ADV] n ADV
The people next door are the people who live in the house or flat to the right or left of yours.
The neighbors thought the family next door had moved.
[ADJ] ADJ n
Next door is also an adjective.
Our next door neighbour knocked on the door to say that our car had been stolen.
3 [PHRASE]
If you refer to someone as the boy next door or the girl next door, you mean that they are pleasant and respectable but rather dull.
She was the girl-next-door type.next door's
[DET]
You can use next door's to indicate that something belongs to the person or people who live in the house to the right or left of your own.
...next door's dog.next of kin
[N-UNCOUNT-COLL]
Next of kin is sometimes used to refer to the person who is your closest relative, especially in official or legal documents. (FORMAL)
We have notified the next of kin.