near miss

near miss

A situation in which danger or problems are barely avoided. Used literally, it usually refers to a potential collision of some kind. It was a near miss when that deer jumped out in front of my car! Luckily, I swerved in time and managed to avoid hitting it. It was a near miss for the senator, whose charges were dropped due to a technicality.
See also: miss, near
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

near miss

A narrowly avoided mishap; also, an attempt that falls just short of success. For example, It was a near miss for that truck, since the driver had crossed the center strip into on-coming traffic , or Her horse kept having a near miss in every race, so she decided to sell it. This expression originated during World War II, when it signified a bomb exploding in the water near enough to a ship to damage its hull. Soon afterward it acquired its present meanings.
See also: miss, near
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

a near ˈmiss

a situation in which an accident, usually involving two moving objects, is only just avoided: There was another near miss this afternoon just over Heathrow Airport when a jet nearly hit a small private plane. He drove like a maniac. We had one near miss after another.
See also: miss, near
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • take the Browns to the Super Bowl
  • Aztec two-step
  • Montezuma
  • Montezuma’s revenge
  • Montezuma's revenge
  • it ain't over till/until the fat lady sings
  • it ain't/it's not over till the fat lady sings
  • it isn't over till the fat lady sings
  • it isn't over till/until the fat lady sings
  • it isn't over until the fat lady sings
References in periodicals archive
The following general definition will provide a useful guide for studies drawing on the near miss research perspective put forth here: a near miss event is a situation that almost happened whereby the outcome of the event did not result in illness, injury, harm and/or any other negative outcome.
Prompting was frequent and reporting was possibly complete in tertiary and district hospitals, where near misses were exceptional events.
A total of 594 women with potentially life threatening conditions were identified, of which 58 were near miss cases and one case of maternal death.
The results of the current study support previous evidence of potential characteristics of problem gambling in an underage population (Hardoon & Derevensky, 2002; National Research Council, 1999) and extend this concern to an even younger population by demonstrating that children differentiated ratings of outcomes indicating that children between the ages of 5 and 10 discriminate a near miss when playing an arcade game similar to roulette.
In 2009 the world health organization published a consensus on maternal near miss definition and set criteria for case identification8.
Tjerk van der Schaaf identified the essential elements of a good near miss, which were applied to this construction project.
The near miss incident had no precise details on how close the two planes really were at the runway.
Near miss maternal morbidity and maternal mortality at Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital.
Maternal near miss case is defined as "a woman who nearly died but survived a complication that occurred during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy" [6].
The UK Airprox Board report says the incident has been rated the most serious category for a near miss.
The near miss incident recognition, reporting, investigation, and remedial action (NEMIRR) program offers management the opportunity to assess all near miss incidents to determine which near miss incidents warrant a full investigation and to eliminate the source of the problem before it results in loss to people, plant, or property.
"I thought it was a near miss because from the ground it looked like they were really close to each other."
In games of skill, a near miss can mean you're improving.
Pilots on the Sea King rescue helicopter had just launched from RAF Boulmer and were hovering just below the cloud line when they were caught up in a near miss.
These individuals may be less likely to actually report an injury or near miss if they self-selected into the potentially higher risk jobs due to the expectations they hold of the work.