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Near East

noun

an indefinite geographical or regional term, usually referring to the countries of SW Asia, including Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia and the other nations of the Arabian Peninsula.Compare Middle East(def 1).
Related formsNear Eastern, adjective, noun
Can be confusedFar East Middle East Near East
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for near east

Near East

noun

another term for the Middle East
(formerly) the Balkan States and the area of the Ottoman Empire
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
near east in Culture

Near East

A region in western Asia and northeastern Africa, often considered the same as the Middle East.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.