next (n?kst)adj.1. Nearest in space or position; adjacent: the next room.2. Immediately following, as in time, order, or sequence: next week; the next item on the list.adv.1. In the time, order, or place nearest or immediately following: reading this book next; our next oldest child.2. On the first subsequent occasion: when next I write.n. The next person or thing: The next will be better.Idiom: next to1. Adjacent to: the car next to hers.2. Following in order or degree: Next to skiing, she likes hiking.3. Almost; practically: next to impossible.[Middle English nexte, from Old English n?ehsta, n?hst, superlative of n?ah, near.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.next (n?kst) adj1. immediately following: the next patient to be examined; do it next week. 2. immediately adjoining: the next room. 3. closest to in degree: the tallest boy next to James; the next-best thing. 4. the next but one the one after the nextadv5. at a time or on an occasion immediately to follow: the patient to be examined next; next, he started to unscrew the telephone receiver. 6. next to a. adjacent to; at or on one side of: the house next to ours. b. following in degree: next to your mother, who do you love most?. c. almost: next to impossible. preparchaic next to[Old English n?hst, superlative of n?ah nigh; compare near, neighbour]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014next (n?kst) adj. 1. immediately following in time, order, importance, etc.: the next day. 2. nearest in place or position: the next room. adv. 3. in the place, time, order, etc., nearest or immediately following: We’re going to London next. This is my next oldest daughter. 4. on the first occasion to follow: when next we meet. prep. 5. adjacent to; nearest: the closet next the blackboard. Idioms: 1. next door to, a. in a house, apartment, office, etc., adjacent to. b. next to; verging on. 2. next to, a. adjacent to: Sit next to me. b. almost; nearly: next to impossible. c. aside from: Next to me, you’re the best. [before 900; Middle English next(e), Old English niehst, superlative of n?ah nigh (see -est1)] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.nextNext is usually used for saying when something will happen. It can also be used for talking about the position of something, either physically, or in a list or series.You use next in front of words such as week, month, or year to say when something will happen. For example, if it is Wednesday and something is going to happen on Monday, you can say that it will happen next week.Be Careful!Don’t use ‘the’ or a preposition in front of next. Don’t say, for example, that something will happen ‘the next week’ or ‘in the next week’.You can also use next without ‘the’ or a preposition in front of weekend or in front of the name of a season, month, or day of the week.Be Careful!Don’t say that something will happen ‘next day’. Say that it will happen tomorrow. Similarly, don’t say that something will happen ‘next morning’, ‘next afternoon’, ‘next evening’, or ‘next night’. Say that it will happen tomorrow morning, tomorrow afternoon, tomorrow evening, or tomorrow night.Be Careful!You don’t usually use ‘next’ to refer to a day in the same week. For example, if it is Monday and you intend to ring someone in four days’ time, don’t say ‘I will ring you next Friday’. You say ‘I will ring you on Friday’.If you want to make it completely clear that you are talking about a day in the same week, you use this.Similarly, you can say that something will happen this weekend.Use the next to refer to any period of time measured forward from the present. For example, if it is July 2nd and you want to say that something will happen between now and July 23rd, you say that it will happen in the next three weeks or during the next three weeks.When you are talking about the past and you want to say that something happened on the day after events that you have been describing, you say that it happened the next day or the following day.Next, the next, and the following can also be used in front of morning.However, in front of afternoon, evening, or the name of a day of the week you normally only use the following.You use next to to say that someone or something is by the side of a person or object.If you talk about the next room, you mean a room that is separated by a wall from the one you are in.Similarly, if you are in a theatre or a bus, the next seat is a seat by the side of the one that you are sitting in.You can use next like this with a few other nouns, for example desk, bed, or compartment.Be Careful!However, don’t use ‘next’ simply to say that a particular thing is the closest one. Don’t say, for example, ‘They took him to the next hospital’. You say ‘They took him to the nearest hospital’.The next one in a list or series is the one that comes immediately after the one you have been talking about.In British English, the next thing but one in a list or series is the one that comes after the next one.