as in narrow escape
a barely successful escape from something undesirable
a near miss with death prompted him to give up skydiving
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Recent Examples of near miss
Bus driver describes near miss CBS News Miami spoke exclusively with a bus driver who says one of the cars sped around his bus just seconds before the impact.
—
Nikiya Carrero, CBS News, 13 Dec. 2025
The Toronto Blue Jays' near miss in Game 7 of the World Series seems to be fueling their desire to dominate the Major League Baseball offseason.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2025
Crash data already exists and has been available, but Matchett said the near miss data provided by the sensors adds an extra dimension of the circumstances that might precipitate a collision.
—Tyler Faurot, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Nov. 2025
The game was full of big plays, near misses and intense action, and Star photographers were on the sideline to capture it all.
—Kansas City Star, 23 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for near miss
Nikiya Carrero, CBS News, 13 Dec. 2025
The Toronto Blue Jays' near miss in Game 7 of the World Series seems to be fueling their desire to dominate the Major League Baseball offseason.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2025
Crash data already exists and has been available, but Matchett said the near miss data provided by the sensors adds an extra dimension of the circumstances that might precipitate a collision.
—Tyler Faurot, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Nov. 2025
The game was full of big plays, near misses and intense action, and Star photographers were on the sideline to capture it all.
—Kansas City Star, 23 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for near miss
Recent Examples of Synonyms for near miss
Noun
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One girl slipped and nearly fell Thursday morning, and Watkins said there have been several close calls since schools reopened.—
Ryan Hughes,
CBS News,
29 Jan. 2026
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The plane involved in Tuesday’s close call is based at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, but NASA keeps many of its aircraft at Ellington Airport.—
David Matthews,
Mercury News,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Last week, for example, a satellite recently deployed by a Chinese rocket gave a Starlink spacecraft a close shave, apparently without providing the proper warning ahead of time.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
18 Dec. 2025
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The Torreys are accustomed to, pun intended, close shaves.—
Don Norcross,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
2 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Near miss.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/near%20miss. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
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