near miss
or near-miss
a strike by a missile that is not a direct hit but is close enough to damage the target.
an instance of two vehicles, aircraft, etc., narrowly avoiding a collision.
something that falls narrowly short of its object or of success: an interesting movie, but a near miss.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use near miss in a sentence
It catalogues a massive but doomed police investigation through its agonizing near-misses and mistaken hunches.
A Horror Story of True-Life Anti-Semitism in France | Tracy McNicoll | April 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHis stubborn efforts to fulfill his dream have yet to pay off, but he carefully lists all the near misses.
The Most Depressing Show on Earth: Amongst the Clowns of Newark | Lizzie Crocker | March 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt is so common that, for every fatal overdose, there are an estimated 25 to 50 near misses.
Heroin: America’s Silent Assassin | Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD, Robert M. Lober, MD, PhD | February 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTEven after these successive near misses, the irony mark (and, for that matter, the sarcasm mark) remains an elusive beast.
The sixteen near misses of the preceding year killed between two hundred and eighty and four hundred and ten other people.
Four or five were very near misses but there was not one direct hit.
The Lost Warship | Robert Moore WilliamsHe made a bit on some near misses, and I decided to have a drink while he lost it.
Fee of the Frontier | Horace Brown Fyfe"I'll keep the cops at a distance with a few near-misses," she said.
Big Pill | Raymond Zinke GallunI'm thankful to say they never hit me, but there were some pretty near misses.
David and the Phoenix | Edward Ormondroyd
British Dictionary definitions for near miss
a bomb, shell, etc, that does not exactly hit the target
any attempt or shot that just fails to be successful
an incident in which two vehicles narrowly avoid collision
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with near miss
A narrowly avoided mishap; also, an attempt that falls just short of success. For example, It was a near miss for that truck, since the driver had crossed the center strip into on-coming traffic, or Her horse kept having a near miss in every race, so she decided to sell it. This expression originated during World War II, when it signified a bomb exploding in the water near enough to a ship to damage its hull. Soon afterward it acquired its present meanings.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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