nearest and dearest
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One's closest and fondest friends, companions, or relatives, as in It's a small gathering—we're inviting only a dozen or so of our nearest and dearest. This rhyming expression has been used ironically since the late 1500s, as well as by Shakespeare in 1 Henry IV (3:2): “Why, Harry, do I tell thee of my foes, which art my nearest and dearest enemy?”
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Words nearby nearest and dearest
Nearctic, near-death experience, near-earth object, Near East, Nearer Tibet, nearest and dearest, Near Field Communication, near gale, near-infrared radiation, Near Islands, nearly
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
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