near miss

or near-miss

See synonyms for near miss on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a strike by a missile that is not a direct hit but is close enough to damage the target.

  2. an instance of two vehicles, aircraft, etc., narrowly avoiding a collision.

  1. 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

  • Four or five were very near misses but there was not one direct hit.

    The Lost Warship | Robert Moore Williams
  • He 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 Gallun
  • I'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

near miss

noun
  1. a bomb, shell, etc, that does not exactly hit the target

  2. any attempt or shot that just fails to be successful

  1. 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

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.