close calls
Almost-disasters, barely avoided
Close calls are narrow escapes from danger, failure, or disaster—situations where something bad almost happened but didn't.
The phrase suggests outcomes decided by small margins: That was a close call—the car missed us by inches.
A close call can also describe a difficult decision with no clear right answer: Choosing between the two candidates was a close call.
- near missesNarrowly avoided incidents
- dodged a bulletNarrowly avoided serious trouble
- dodgeAvoid by quick movement
- by a whiskerBy the slimmest margin
- hairsbreadthExtremely small distance
skin of your teeth · narrow escape · near death experience · squeaker · edge · just barely · luck · scrape · touch and go · swerve · slip · reflexes · relief · photo finish · avoidance · adrenaline rush · inches · whew
- road ragetailgating, honking, cutting off, brake checking, middle finger
- thrillsroller coasters, thrill, adrenaline, skydiving, bungee jump
- Safari Storiesbush walks, dawn patrols
- talestale, funny stories, tall tales, short story, yarns
- blundersblunder, blunders, blundered, mistakes, botch
- sea talespirate story, sea stories, sea story, mermaid tale, ghost ships
close callscatastrophes
Disastrous events of great magnitude
tragedies · disasters · collisions · crashes · fatalities
close callssure things
Guaranteed outcomes
certainties · foregone conclusions · not even close · safe bets · guarantees
call, close, include, closet, closed, closing, exclude, exclusive, closer