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

: close call

Synonyms

• close call
• close shave

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

There have been so many near misses since Livingstone pummeled a 100 against Pakistan in 2021 off 42 balls at Nottingham (a game where England came up short). —Tim Ellis, Forbes, 14 Sep. 2024

Yet since then, summer-child-care policy has been marked by a succession of near misses, half efforts, and false starts. —Elliot Haspel, The Atlantic, 23 Aug. 2024

In fact, since the nuclear age began, there have been an alarmingly high number of nuclear near misses—accidents or miscalculations that almost led to a nuclear detonation or nuclear war. —Nina Tannenwald, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2018

Detractors said the near miss in 2022-23 was a one-off and that the Gunners had overachieved. —Matias Grez, CNN, 16 Aug. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1940, in the meaning defined at sense 1a