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)

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
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.
If a couple of near misses hadn’t been slightly off target, Roldan could have added a pair of goals for good measure. Braidon Nourse, Denver Post, 15 Oct. 2025 There were some near misses across the board. Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 29 Sep. 2025 In its preliminary report, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed the airport had experienced over 15,000 near misses between October 2021 and December 2024 involving helicopters and commercial airplanes. Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 26 Sep. 2025 Recent near misses at airports across the country and a January mid-air collision have left travelers and officials anxious about safety practices while pilots are in the air and on the ground. Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 19 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for near miss

Word History

First Known Use

1940, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of near miss was in 1940

Cite this Entry

“Near miss.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/near%20miss. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on near miss

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