MEANING
An experience in which someone only just avoids danger, harm, or serious failure.
Use it for
narrowly avoiding an accident; escaping trouble by a small margin; nearly suffering a serious setback; getting through a dangerous moment safelyNames an escape that came very near to ending in harm or failure. Writing functions: Narrow escape. Semantic categories (by meaning): Danger; Narrow escape. Contexts: General conversation; Creative prose.
On the page
The van stopped inches from the crossing; it was a close shave.
The editor recovered the only backup just before the drive failed—a close shave for a year's work.
Word forms
- Base
- a close shave
Usage notes
Countable noun phrase: a close shave; plural close shaves. Often have a close shave or describe something as a close shave. Register: informal. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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