neck and neck

adverb or adjective

|Updated on: 6 Jun 2018

Definition of neck and neck

: very close (as in a race)

Recent Examples of neck and neck from the Web

When Moore faced Yates in the eight-round match, the two men were running neck and neck throughout the first half of the competition.

— brett hoffman, star-telegram, "'It’s like a hometown rodeo for me.' Ponder product enjoys success at 45th Ryon Roping | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 26 May 2018
Villaraigosa’s latest internal polling, however, has him at 15 percent — running neck and neck with Cox’s 17 percent.

— matier & ross, SFChronicle.com, "Newsom strategy: Face Republican in the fall by knocking Dems out in June," 23 May 2018
Ahead of the vote, some polls showed Maduro and Falcón, who broke with Chávez in 2010, running almost neck and neck.

— anthony faiola, Washington Post, "Crisis-weary Venezuelans are voting in election decried as a Maduro power grab," 20 May 2018
Boys and girls run neck and neck, confidence-wise, up to then, but when the estrogen-testosterone waves start flooding kids’ brains, all that changes.

— katty kay, Time, "How to Help Young Girls Keep Their Confidence During Puberty," 20 Apr. 2018
According to the Delphos polling firm, Maduro and Falcon are neck and neck among likely voters, with Maduro at 38 percent compared with Falcon at 37 percent.

— anthony faiola and rachelle krygier, Washington Post, "Blackouts, hyperinflation, hunger: Maduro faces reelection as Venezuela deteriorates," 16 May 2018
Ahlquist didn’t have any name recognition a year ago but is now fighting neck and neck with the familiar politicians in the state.

— tara golshan, Vox, "There’s a governor’s race in the fastest-growing state in the country: Idaho.," 14 May 2018
The two candidates have been running neck and neck all evening.

— robert higgs, cleveland.com, "Martin Sweeney holds slim lead over Nickie Antonio is Democratic race for 23rd Ohio Senate seat," 8 May 2018
Today its stock market value, while behind Apple, is neck and neck with Amazon’s and slightly ahead of Google’s.

— steve lohr, New York Times, "Microsoft’s Cloud Has Business Booming Again," 26 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'neck and neck.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.