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I have read the book Uncle Tom's Cabin.
At the beginning of the book, I saw a confusing sentence:

... and the gentlemen, with chairs closely approaching, seemed to be ...

Can you explain the meaning of "approaching" here?

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  • 1
    Have you consulted any dictionary?
    – Ubi.B
    Mar 26, 2019 at 6:54
  • Ubi Hatt yes, I did, I want to make it clearer! Mar 27, 2019 at 8:09
  • We need more that a mere fraction of the sentence to answer your Q. What was the complete sentence; and, if necessary, the surrounding sentences?
    – TrevorD
    Apr 10, 2019 at 23:06

1 Answer 1

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Late in the afternoon of a chilly day in February, two gentlemen were sitting alone over their wine, in a well-furnished dining parlor, in the town of P----, in Kentucky. There were no servants present, and the gentlemen, with chairs closely approaching, seemed to be discussing some subject with great earnestness.

"Approach" simply means "Coming nearer".
So here, it would mean that the chairs were being brought nearer to each other by the men.

Perhaps the conversation among them was so interesting that the men kept dragging their chairs nearer to each other, to be able to carry on the conversation more easily and closely.

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  • Ask for more context. Don't be in hurry to answer. And yes, there are few more definitions of approach.
    – Ubi.B
    Mar 26, 2019 at 7:25
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    @Ubihatt I did search for the line, and read the complete paragraph on internet as it was easily available before answering. But thanks for the advice. :)
    – Bella Swan
    Mar 26, 2019 at 7:29
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    Not an advice, it is the requirement of EL & U. However, if you figured it out yourself then include the paragraph in your answer.
    – Ubi.B
    Mar 26, 2019 at 7:31
  • Also, if you found the quotation on-line, it's helpful to include a reference link in case others also want to refer to it.
    – TrevorD
    Mar 26, 2019 at 14:41
  • @TrevorD I've already put the para in the comments
    – Bella Swan
    Mar 27, 2019 at 4:52

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