near miss
noun
variants
or less commonly near-miss
1
a
: a miss (as with a bomb) close enough to cause damage
b
: something that falls just short of success
2
a
: a near collision (as between aircraft)
b
Examples of near miss in a Sentence
After years of near misses, the team has finally won a championship.
a near miss with death prompted him to give up skydiving
Recent Examples on the Web
Engineers used data from these near misses to improve Waymo’s software.
—
Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, 22 May 2024
These kinds of near misses are happening between Russian and NATO members’ aircraft over the Black Sea, often as a result of ignoring existing risk reduction measures such as the 1972 Incidents at Sea Agreement.
—Ulrich Kühn, Foreign Affairs, 14 June 2023
Serious runway incursions or near misses remain rare.
—Sophie Hills, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 May 2024
The injuries and near misses described in the OSHA documents call into question the company’s claims about its innovative tunneling processes, which Musk has long said would make large-scale industrial projects cheaper and faster.
—Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik, Quartz, 26 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for near miss 
Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, 22 May 2024
These kinds of near misses are happening between Russian and NATO members’ aircraft over the Black Sea, often as a result of ignoring existing risk reduction measures such as the 1972 Incidents at Sea Agreement.
—Ulrich Kühn, Foreign Affairs, 14 June 2023
Serious runway incursions or near misses remain rare.
—Sophie Hills, The Christian Science Monitor, 2 May 2024
The injuries and near misses described in the OSHA documents call into question the company’s claims about its innovative tunneling processes, which Musk has long said would make large-scale industrial projects cheaper and faster.
—Andy Kalmowitz / Jalopnik, Quartz, 26 Feb. 2024
See all Example Sentences for near miss
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'near miss.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to near miss
Dictionary Entries Near near miss
Cite this Entry
“Near miss.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/near%20miss. Accessed 2 Jul. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share