Selects documents containing two or more words within N number of words of each other, where N is an integer. Document scores are calculated based on the relative distance of the specified words when they are separated by N words or less. Documents containing the specified words separated by more than N words are not selected. For example, if the search expression NEAR/5 is used to find two words within five words of each other, a document that has the specified words within three words of each other is scored higher than a document that has the specified words within five words of each other.
The N variable can be an integer between 1 and 1,024, where NEAR/1 searches for two words that are next to each other. Note that if N is 1,000 or above, you must specify its value without commas, as in NEAR/1000.
The NEAR/N operator is similar to the other proximity operators in the sense that the search words you enter must be found within a close proximity of one another. However, unlike other proximity operators, the NEAR/N operator assigns scores based on relative proximity.
