a near thing

1. An unpleasant, dangerous, or disastrous event or outcome that one narrowly avoids. No one was hurt in the accident, but it was a near thing—if the fuel tank had been hit, we all would have died. It was a near thing, but thankfully the surgeons managed to remove the cancerous tissue before it spread to other parts of my body. The last-minute deal will avert a government shutdown, but it will have been a near thing.

2. A very narrow outcome or margin of success or failure. After finding out I got the job, I learned from a friend within the company that it was a near thing due to the yearlong gap in my résumé. It is expected to be a near thing in the final moments of the presidential election.

near thing

Something just barely effected, as in That election was a near thing-he won by a handful of votes. [Mid-1700s]

a close/near ˈthing

a close-run ˈthing

(informal)
1 a competition, an election, a race, etc. which you only just succeed in winning: I know we won, but believe me, it was a near thing. They could easily have beaten us.
2 a punishment, an accident, etc. which you only just avoided: The police searched the house but they didn’t find him. It was a close-run thing.

词组	a near thing
释义	a near thing a near thing 1. An unpleasant, dangerous, or disastrous event or outcome that one narrowly avoids. No one was hurt in the accident, but it was a near thing—if the fuel tank had been hit, we all would have died. It was a near thing, but thankfully the surgeons managed to remove the cancerous tissue before it spread to other parts of my body. The last-minute deal will avert a government shutdown, but it will have been a near thing. 2. A very narrow outcome or margin of success or failure. After finding out I got the job, I learned from a friend within the company that it was a near thing due to the yearlong gap in my résumé. It is expected to be a near thing in the final moments of the presidential election. See also: near, thing Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. near thing Something just barely effected, as in That election was a near thing-he won by a handful of votes. [Mid-1700s] See also: near, thing The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. a close/near ˈthing , a close-run ˈthing (informal) 1 a competition, an election, a race, etc. which you only just succeed in winning: I know we won, but believe me, it was a near thing. They could easily have beaten us. 2 a punishment, an accident, etc. which you only just avoided: The police searched the house but they didn’t find him. It was a close-run thing. See also: close, near, thing Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary See also: drive (one) out of office force (one) out of office force out of office get a taste of (one's) own medicine give (one) (one's) head give head give somebody their head give someone their head cooking for one dose
随便看	stick out like a sore thumb stick out like a sore thumb, to stick out (one's) tongue stick out (one's) tongue at (someone or something) stick out to stick out to (someone or something) sticks and stones sticks and stones may break my bones (but words will never hurt me) sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me stick shift stick someone with something stick (something)/it up your arse stick that in your pipe and smoke it stick the knife in stick through stick through (someone or something) stick to stick to beat (someone or something) with stick to fingers stick together stick to guns stick-to-it-iveness sticktoitiveness stick-to-itiveness