1
: immediately adjacent (as in place, rank, or time)
2
: any other considered hypothetically
knew it as well as the next man
see also next to nothing
: nearest or adjacent to
1
: in the time, place, or order nearest or immediately succeeding
next we drove home
the next closest school
2
: on the first occasion to come
when next we meet
: one that is next
from one day to the next
Synonyms
Examples of next in a Sentence
Adjective
I'll see you next Monday.
Next year's party will be even better.
the very next thing that happened
Can I help the next person in line? Who's next?
We could hear people talking in the next room.
At the next set of lights, turn left.
I need the next size up.
The next time we will see each other will be on our wedding day.
Next time, please remember to bring your books to class.
She knew the answer as well as the next person.
Adverb
Next, I need to ask you a few questions about your family.
Recent Examples on the Web
The Enquirer, 15 Apr. 2024
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, are already dealing with a surplus of rain this month, with more than a dozen river gauges already at minor flood stage even before the next round of rain arrives.
—Mary Gilbert, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024
Recently, Playboi Carti fans impatiently waiting for his next album dropped an entire fake Carti project with AI vocals.
—Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 15 Apr. 2024
Wonder what the next Custom Line 140 will look like?
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 15 Apr. 2024
Lawmakers were outraged that Microsoft was charging the government extra for such a basic feature, and Biden administration officials spent the next two and a half years privately urging Microsoft to make log data free for all customers.
—Eric Geller, WIRED, 15 Apr. 2024
There are also plans to shutter 30 Dollar Tree locations after the leases expire over the next few years.
—Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2024
What time is the next Powerball lottery drawing in Arizona?
—The Arizona Republic, 15 Apr. 2024
More:Daughter resists driving mom to church More:Job shopper asks for frequent references
While Timothy might believe that this is a generous statement, it is expressed with the same personal connection a person might have toward scheduling their next dental appointment.
—Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 4 Apr. 2024
Kirsten Adair, NPR, 3 Apr. 2024
April is just around the corner, meaning new titles will arrive on Disney’s streaming platform next month.
—Monica Mercuri, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
Although the Supreme Court has agreed to review the decision next month, the lack of beds could slow Caltrans’ encampment efforts.
—Ethan Varian, The Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2024
Meanwhile, Ultra headliner Calvin Harris had some sharp words for critics of his festival set, and IMS Ibiza announced the speaker lineup for its conference next month.
—Katie Bain, Billboard, 29 Mar. 2024
Waxahatchee is touring behind the new album next month, playing dates across North America through early September.
—Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 27 Mar. 2024
There are numerous ways to create considerable space next offseason, to supplement Miami’s $36 million in cap space.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 27 Mar. 2024
The Clippers head into Monday’s tip-off with the Indiana Pacers clinging to the home-court advantage for the first round of the NBA playoffs next month.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2024
The Hamilton County Democratic Central Committee, a group made up of about 300 Democrats, will take up the issue of replacing Kelly at its meeting next month, Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairwoman Gwen McFarlin said.
—Jessie Balmert, The Enquirer, 23 Mar. 2024
K.j. Yossman, Variety, 5 Apr. 2024
Among those who believe in NATO’s mission, there is deep fear about what comes next.
—John Hudson, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
What happens next in the videos is alarming: Tiny larvae emerge from the otherwise unblemished fruit.
—Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 3 Apr. 2024
Owners of the two teams at the time weren’t sure what would happen next, but leaving the Kansas City metro area apparently wasn’t given strong consideration.
—Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 3 Apr. 2024
On Monday, Gauff will next face Caroline Garcia, who ousted Naomi Osaka in straight sets Sunday.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2024
Up next: The Current return home to CPKC Stadium on Saturday, facing Angel City FC at 2:30 p.m.
Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star.
—Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 24 Mar. 2024
Data stored in a computer’s memory have addresses, and DMP’s optimize the computer’s operations by predicting the address of data that is likely to be accessed next.
—Andrew Couts, WIRED, 23 Mar. 2024
Caitlin Clark's first March Madness opponent is set: Holy Cross is up next after a First Four blowout.
—USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2024
Lia Assimakopoulos, Dallas News, 8 Mar. 2023
So bouncing from one tone and genre to the next creates a whiplash effect, even though some of the episodes — that fourth one in particular — are quite good.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 15 Mar. 2023
The numbers are higher globally: One-quarter of consumers intend to buy an EV next.
—Stephen Wilmot, WSJ, 11 Mar. 2022
Because the multi-racial categories are relatively new to the census and have changed since they were introduced, an apples-to-apples comparison of data collected from one census year to the next becomes complicated, if not impossible.
—Hannah Drown, cleveland, 21 Aug. 2021
Your organization should have a plan for how to manage the alarm in the foreseeable future — in the new next.
—Curtis Odom, Forbes, 7 June 2021
For so many others, there is no longer a something-to-do-next.
—Ai Weiwei, The Atlantic, 2 June 2020
The liminal spaces that represent transitions between one point in time and the next are needed even more today, during turmoil and stay-at-home orders caused by the coronavirus, say proponents.
—oregonlive, 28 Apr. 2020
On Thursday, one plane after the next was landing at an American Airlines facility in Tulsa.
—David Gelles, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2020
Adjective
That office completed autopsies of their bodies over the next three days and released them to the Rhoden and Gilley families.
—The Enquirer, 15 Apr. 2024
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, are already dealing with a surplus of rain this month, with more than a dozen river gauges already at minor flood stage even before the next round of rain arrives.
—Mary Gilbert, CNN, 15 Apr. 2024
Recently, Playboi Carti fans impatiently waiting for his next album dropped an entire fake Carti project with AI vocals.
—Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 15 Apr. 2024
Wonder what the next Custom Line 140 will look like?
—Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 15 Apr. 2024
Lawmakers were outraged that Microsoft was charging the government extra for such a basic feature, and Biden administration officials spent the next two and a half years privately urging Microsoft to make log data free for all customers.
—Eric Geller, WIRED, 15 Apr. 2024
There are also plans to shutter 30 Dollar Tree locations after the leases expire over the next few years.
—Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2024
What time is the next Powerball lottery drawing in Arizona?
—The Arizona Republic, 15 Apr. 2024
More:Daughter resists driving mom to church More:Job shopper asks for frequent references
While Timothy might believe that this is a generous statement, it is expressed with the same personal connection a person might have toward scheduling their next dental appointment.
—Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 4 Apr. 2024
Preposition
School officials in Indiana are looking forward to class without the buzz of cellphones next school year.
—Kirsten Adair, NPR, 3 Apr. 2024
April is just around the corner, meaning new titles will arrive on Disney’s streaming platform next month.
—Monica Mercuri, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
Although the Supreme Court has agreed to review the decision next month, the lack of beds could slow Caltrans’ encampment efforts.
—Ethan Varian, The Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2024
Meanwhile, Ultra headliner Calvin Harris had some sharp words for critics of his festival set, and IMS Ibiza announced the speaker lineup for its conference next month.
—Katie Bain, Billboard, 29 Mar. 2024
Waxahatchee is touring behind the new album next month, playing dates across North America through early September.
—Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 27 Mar. 2024
There are numerous ways to create considerable space next offseason, to supplement Miami’s $36 million in cap space.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 27 Mar. 2024
The Clippers head into Monday’s tip-off with the Indiana Pacers clinging to the home-court advantage for the first round of the NBA playoffs next month.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 25 Mar. 2024
The Hamilton County Democratic Central Committee, a group made up of about 300 Democrats, will take up the issue of replacing Kelly at its meeting next month, Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairwoman Gwen McFarlin said.
—Jessie Balmert, The Enquirer, 23 Mar. 2024
Adverb
And there’s something quite exciting about the celebrity not being able to prepare anything, not knowing what’s going to come next.
—K.j. Yossman, Variety, 5 Apr. 2024
Among those who believe in NATO’s mission, there is deep fear about what comes next.
—John Hudson, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024
What happens next in the videos is alarming: Tiny larvae emerge from the otherwise unblemished fruit.
—Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 3 Apr. 2024
Owners of the two teams at the time weren’t sure what would happen next, but leaving the Kansas City metro area apparently wasn’t given strong consideration.
—Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 3 Apr. 2024
On Monday, Gauff will next face Caroline Garcia, who ousted Naomi Osaka in straight sets Sunday.
—Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2024
Up next: The Current return home to CPKC Stadium on Saturday, facing Angel City FC at 2:30 p.m.
Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star.
—Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 24 Mar. 2024
Data stored in a computer’s memory have addresses, and DMP’s optimize the computer’s operations by predicting the address of data that is likely to be accessed next.
—Andrew Couts, WIRED, 23 Mar. 2024
Caitlin Clark's first March Madness opponent is set: Holy Cross is up next after a First Four blowout.
—USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2024
Noun
One sport to the next sees what the other has done and wants some of the same stuff.
—Lia Assimakopoulos, Dallas News, 8 Mar. 2023
So bouncing from one tone and genre to the next creates a whiplash effect, even though some of the episodes — that fourth one in particular — are quite good.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 15 Mar. 2023
The numbers are higher globally: One-quarter of consumers intend to buy an EV next.
—Stephen Wilmot, WSJ, 11 Mar. 2022
Because the multi-racial categories are relatively new to the census and have changed since they were introduced, an apples-to-apples comparison of data collected from one census year to the next becomes complicated, if not impossible.
—Hannah Drown, cleveland, 21 Aug. 2021
Your organization should have a plan for how to manage the alarm in the foreseeable future — in the new next.
—Curtis Odom, Forbes, 7 June 2021
For so many others, there is no longer a something-to-do-next.
—Ai Weiwei, The Atlantic, 2 June 2020
The liminal spaces that represent transitions between one point in time and the next are needed even more today, during turmoil and stay-at-home orders caused by the coronavirus, say proponents.
—oregonlive, 28 Apr. 2020
On Thursday, one plane after the next was landing at an American Airlines facility in Tulsa.
—David Gelles, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'next.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near next
Cite this Entry
“Next.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/next. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
next
1 of 3 adjective
: coming immediately before or following
the next page
the house next to ours
next
2 of 3 preposition(ˈ)nekst
next
3 of 3 adverbˈnekst
1
: in the nearest time, place, or order following
open this package next
2
: at the first time to come after this
when next we meet
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