as in narrow
showing little difference in the standing of the competitors
a down-to-the-wire contest for the pennant
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Recent Examples of down-to-the-wire
Following her nose to a funeral where Arthur has managed to convince the dithering family to cremate rather than go with burial, Elsbeth has her most down-to-the-wire crime-proving moment yet.
—
Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 11 Apr. 2025
The Quad 3 loss was the second such defeat of the season for the Huskies, who suffered a similar down-to-the-wire loss to Colorado in the second game of the Maui Invitational in November.
—Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 18 Feb. 2025
So, what’s another down-to-the-wire finish for this team?
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2025
With two elite quarterbacks, top-tier offenses, and strong defenses, this game has all the ingredients for a down-to-the-wire finish.
—Joel Thayer, Newsweek, 26 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for down-to-the-wire
Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 11 Apr. 2025
The Quad 3 loss was the second such defeat of the season for the Huskies, who suffered a similar down-to-the-wire loss to Colorado in the second game of the Maui Invitational in November.
—Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 18 Feb. 2025
So, what’s another down-to-the-wire finish for this team?
—Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2025
With two elite quarterbacks, top-tier offenses, and strong defenses, this game has all the ingredients for a down-to-the-wire finish.
—Joel Thayer, Newsweek, 26 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for down-to-the-wire
Recent Examples of Synonyms for down-to-the-wire
Adjective
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During the trial, Amélie testified that Depardieu grabbed her hips in a narrow corridor and started touching her, pointing to her buttocks, hip, and pubic area.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
13 May 2025
-
Sherrill has held a consistent yet narrow lead in recent surveys.—
Andrew Stanton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 May 2025
Adjective
-
Among the close friends and family celebrating were Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban.—
Rachel Flynn,
People.com,
24 May 2025
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After the close, discount retailer Miniso Group (9896 HK, MSO US) missed Q1 estimates while online travel agency Tongcheng (780 HK) beat analyst expectations for Q1.—
Brendan Ahern,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
Adjective
-
So, it's designed to access tight gaps and under low furniture.—
Brenda Stolyar,
Wired News,
22 May 2025
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Autonomous vehicle technology has been hard to commercialize, with tight regulations and heavy investments forcing many companies to give up.—
Akash Sriram,
USA Today,
22 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Down-to-the-wire.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/down-to-the-wire. Accessed 26 May. 2025.
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