Collocations for "approach"
Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word "approach" in context.
WordReference English Collocations © 2025
approach
ⓘMost examples are given in US English. We have labeled exceptions as UK.v
- the [car, plane, train] was approaching
- approaching [your destination, the store, a corner]
- approach (it) from the [North, side]
- approached me on [the street, my way to work]
- approached (me) from behind
- approached him about [helping]
- was approached about [helping, contributing, volunteering]
- approach them for [funding, help, advice]
- (how to) approach a [girl, boy]
- approach [the company, the team, them] with an offer
- (do not) approach [him, the dog, the suspect]
- (members of the) public are advised not to approach him
- [should, must, may] (not) be approached
- approach the [subject, issue, question, problem]
- approach the [subject] [differently, from a different angle]
- approach with [caution, care, respect]
- approached [on foot, in a car, on bike]
- approaching [quickly, suddenly, quietly]
- approaching the end of her life
- as [a new year, Christmas] approaches
- a [new, different, better, novel] approach
- [try, take, adopt, has] a [new] approach
- is [an unconventional, the conventional, a tried-and-tested] approach
- a [forward, progressive, revolutionary] approach towards [politics, manufacturing]
- his approach to the problem was [progressive, revolutionary]
- could [hear, see, sense] his approach (behind her)
- the approach of [war, depression, crisis]
- made an approach to the [CEO, president] (about)
- made [inappropriate, persistent] approaches
- made an approach [on, to] her
- [resisted, gave into] his approaches
- on the approach to the [village, mountain]
- an approach to the [school, airport, prison]
- [we, the pilot, the plane] will begin our approach shortly
- the final approach (to the runway)
- the plane's approach was [challenging, difficult, hazardous]
'approach' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
advisable
- aggressive
- air
- alternative
- angle
- arrogant
- assertive
- attitude
- avenue
- balanced
- bilingual
- bottom
- brash
- calm
- caring
- carrot
- cautious
- cheerful
- cognitive
- common
- complementary
- comprehensive
- concept
- confident
- conservative
- consistency
- consistent
- construction
- corporate
- counselor
- cumbersome
- direct
- driven
- dynamic
- effective
- engaging
- established
- fearless
- feasible
- flexible
- focused
- formal
- fresh
- friendly
- fruitful
- groundbreaking
- hands-on
- haphazard
- herald
- holistic