as in narrow escape
a barely successful escape from something undesirable
the doctor said I'd had a close call, and was lucky to be alive
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Recent Examples of close call
Those close calls spurred hard conversations after the ’05 disappointment.
—
Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Feb. 2026
But a championship has remained elusive, even with Boone encountering close calls in 2003 — the only postseason trip of his playing career — and 2024.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2026
The National Transportation Safety Board said the FAA and the Army did not share safety data with each other about the alarming number of close calls around Reagan National Airport and failed to address the risks.
—Darlene Superville, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2026
Hurley and his staff had been drilling the team on its areas of weakness as the close calls kept coming.
—Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 10 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for close call
Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Feb. 2026
But a championship has remained elusive, even with Boone encountering close calls in 2003 — the only postseason trip of his playing career — and 2024.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 11 Feb. 2026
The National Transportation Safety Board said the FAA and the Army did not share safety data with each other about the alarming number of close calls around Reagan National Airport and failed to address the risks.
—Darlene Superville, Chicago Tribune, 11 Feb. 2026
Hurley and his staff had been drilling the team on its areas of weakness as the close calls kept coming.
—Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 10 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for close call
Recent Examples of Synonyms for close call
close shave
Noun
-
Mid-Atlantic and Northeast: close shave between a blizzard and a blustery day Farther north into the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, forecast confidence drops sharply, with the storm’s eventual track playing a critical role in determining impacts.—
Briana Waxman,
CNN Money,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Last week, for example, a satellite recently deployed by a Chinese rocket gave a Starlink spacecraft a close shave, apparently without providing the proper warning ahead of time.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
18 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Close call.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/close%20call. Accessed 3 Mar. 2026.
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