next Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite immediately following in time or order
    following.
    • the following day
    • next in line
    • the next president
    • the next item on the list
  2. adjective satellite nearest in space or position; immediately adjoining without intervening space
    side by side; adjacent.
    • had adjacent rooms
    • in the next room
    • the person sitting next to me
    • our rooms were side by side
  3. adjective satellite (of elected officers) elected but not yet serving
    future; succeeding.
    • our next president
  4. adverb at the time or occasion immediately following
    • next the doctor examined his back

WordNet

Next a., superl. of Nigh
Etymology
AS. nhst, niéhst, nhst, superl. of neáh nigh. See Nigh.
Definitions
  1. Nearest in place; having no similar object intervening. Chaucer.
    Her princely guest Was next her side; in order sat the rest. Dryden.
    Fear followed me so hard, that I fled the next way. Bunyan.
  2. Nearest in time; as, the next day or hour.
  3. Adjoining in a series; immediately preceding or following in order.
    None could tell whose turn should be the next. Gay.
  4. Nearest in degree, quality, rank, right, or relation; as, the next heir was an infant.
    The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. Ruth ii. 20.
    ✍ Next is usually followed by to before an object, but to is sometimes omitted. In such cases next in considered by many grammarians as a preposition.
Next adverb
Definitions
  1. In the time, place, or order nearest or immediately suceeding; as, this man follows next.

Webster 1913