close quarters
a small, cramped place or position.
direct and close contact in a fight: They met at close quarters, exchanging many quick jabs.
Origin of close quarters
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use close quarters in a sentence
On little islands, at close quarters, being outspoken draws attention.
Behind the Iron Curtain, Manea had the opportunity to observe this colonization of sorts at close quarters.
Norman Manea Survived the Nazis and the Communists and Lived to Write About It | Costica Bradatan | April 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe lady seated to my immediate right (very close quarters on bench seating) was fairly insistent about using her phone.
When two navies came together, it was a collision, followed by boarding and a desperate, bloody fight at close quarters.
I of course have never held the job, but it can't be so different from covering campaigns at close quarters, which I have done.
It was now evident that Aguinaldo had no intention to come to close quarters and bring matters to a crisis by pitched battles.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanThe Cristobal Colon would have a bad time if the two ships came to close quarters.
Young Glory and the Spanish Cruiser | Walter Fenton MottThe Maine was sunk by a torpedo, discharged at close quarters underneath her magazine.
The Double Four | E. Phillips OppenheimThe regulars reserved their fire for close quarters, and then delivered it to bloody purpose.
Overland | John William De ForestThe nine-millimeter rifles were said to be large enough for nearly all purposes, but not reassuring in extremely close quarters.
In Africa | John T. McCutcheon
British Dictionary definitions for close quarters
/ (kləʊs) /
a narrow cramped space or position
at close quarters
engaged in hand-to-hand combat
in close proximity; very near together
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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