Almost Definition

ôlmōst, ôl-mōst

adverb

Slightly short of; not quite; nearly.

Almost time to go; was almost asleep; had almost finished.

American Heritage

Very nearly but not completely; all but.

Webster's New World

Very close to, but not quite.

Almost all people went there. - Not all but very close to it.

We almost missed the train. - Not missed but very close to it.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

noun

(informal) Something or someone that doesn't quite make it.

In all the submissions, they found four papers that were clearly worth publishing and another dozen almosts.

Wiktionary

Other Word Forms of Almost

Singular:

almost

Plural:

almosts

From Middle English, from Old English eallmǣst (“nearly all, almost, for the most part”), equivalent to all-- +‎ most.

From Wiktionary
Middle English from Old English ealmǣst eall all all mǣst most most

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition