brush with death
Barely survived incident
A brush with death is a close encounter with mortality—a situation where someone nearly dies but survives.
The brush suggests brief, glancing contact rather than direct collision: She had a brush with death when her car skidded off the highway.
The phrase emphasizes how narrowly disaster was avoided.
- close callDisaster narrowly averted
- near missNarrowly averted incident
- dodged a bulletNarrowly avoided serious trouble
- touch and goDangerously uncertain situation
- narrow escapeBarely avoiding disaster
fatal · accident · miracle · saw the light · out of body · trauma · final moments · hospital · ICU · heart stopped · lucky · borrowed time · mortality · survivor · flatline · resuscitation · came back · wake-up call
- close callsclose call, near miss, narrow escape, close shave, nick of time
- wake-up callsalarm, alarm clock, morning call, rooster crow, snooze alarm
brush with deathclean bill of health
Official statement of soundness
safe and sound · out of harm's way · demise · passing away · new lease on life
brush with deathnew lease on life
Renewed vitality and purpose
birth · rebirth · fresh start · renewal · second chance
brush, brushed, brushing, brushes, death, deaths, deadly, deathly