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
The incident is the latest close call at Washington’s Reagan National Airport since the beginning of the year.
—
Aaron Cooper, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2025
With multiple overtime games, upsets and close calls, Week 2 provided a lot of reasons to shake up this week’s edition of The Athletic 136, just not at the top.
—Chris Vannini, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
Then again, close calls against FCS teams – and Northern Colorado isn’t a particularly good FCS team – tend to look even worse in hindsight.
—Jon Wilner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Sep. 2025
The one-run loss was the Dodgers’ 13th in their past 19 close calls.
—Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 7 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for close call
Aaron Cooper, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2025
With multiple overtime games, upsets and close calls, Week 2 provided a lot of reasons to shake up this week’s edition of The Athletic 136, just not at the top.
—Chris Vannini, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2025
Then again, close calls against FCS teams – and Northern Colorado isn’t a particularly good FCS team – tend to look even worse in hindsight.
—Jon Wilner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Sep. 2025
The one-run loss was the Dodgers’ 13th in their past 19 close calls.
—Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 7 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for close call
Recent Examples of Synonyms for close call
close shave
Noun
-
Our favorites helped our razors glide smoothly across the skin for an ultra-close shave, while aloe vera and almond oil soothed, hydrated, and enhanced the skin’s appearance — mitigating irritation.—
Maggie Horton,
PEOPLE,
11 Sep. 2025
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Meant to be used anywhere and everywhere, this delivers a smooth and close shave by reducing friction with allantoin and infusing skin with shea butter, glycerin and squalane for softness and moisture.—
Celia Shatzman,
Forbes.com,
29 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Close call.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/close%20call. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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