next-door

The children play with their next-door neighbors in the backyard.

Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Located in the adjacent building or house: "next-door" describes something that is situated in the house or building immediately beside one's own.

2. Adverb:

   • In or to the adjacent building or house: "next-door" indicates the location or direction of the adjacent residence.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • The next-door neighbour is a retired teacher. (The person living in the house beside ours is a retired teacher.)
  • I can hear music from the next-door apartment. (I can hear music coming from the flat adjacent to mine.)

• Adverb:

  • She lives next-door to the supermarket. (She resides in the house adjoining the supermarket.)
  • The children ran next-door to play with their friends. (The children ran to the house beside theirs to play.)

Advanced Usage

• "next-door to" (figurative): very close to or almost the same as something.
  • His behaviour was next-door to criminal. (His actions were almost criminal in nature.)
  • That suggestion is next-door to impossible. (That suggestion is virtually impossible.)

Variants and Related Words

• Next-door neighbour (noun phrase): a person living in the adjacent house or building.
  • We invited our next-door neighbour to the barbecue. (We invited the person living beside us.)

Synonyms

• Adjacent: lying near or close; next to.
  • The adjacent house is for sale. (The house next door is for sale.)
• Neighbouring: situated in the area nearby.
  • We visited the neighbouring town. (We visited the town next to ours.)

Related Idioms

• The girl/boy next-door: a person (often a young woman or man) who is seen as wholesome, ordinary, and approachable.
  • She has a classic girl-next-door charm. (She has an innocent, friendly, and unpretentious appeal.)

Phrasal Verbs

• (No common phrasal verbs directly use "next-door". The word is primarily used as an adjective or adverb.)