come close

idiom

1
: to almost do something
We didn't win, but we came close.
often + to
The band came very close to breaking up.
We came close to winning the championship this season.
2
: to be similar to something or as good as expected
She said they taste just like real hot dogs, but they don't even come close (to the real thing).

Examples of come close in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
But Legion Space still doesn’t come close to SteamOS. Zackery Cuevas, PC Magazine, 2 Oct. 2025 Most of the other seven did not come close. Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025 In 1921 Japanese meteorologist Sakuhei Fujiwhara theorized that two vortices spinning through fluid (which is exactly what tropical cyclones are) could come close enough to each other to begin orbiting a common central point. Andrea Thompson, Scientific American, 29 Sep. 2025 Only two other Arizona killing spree cases have come close to the number of dead. Miguel Torres, AZCentral.com, 25 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for come close

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Come close.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/come%20close. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!