near miss

noun

variants or less commonly near-miss
1
a
: a miss (as with a bomb) close enough to cause damage
b
: something that falls just short of success
2
a
: a near collision (as between aircraft)

Examples of near miss in a Sentence

After years of near misses, the team has finally won a championship. a near miss with death prompted him to give up skydiving
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The footage of the near miss shows how close the scene was to turning into a disaster. Saajan Jogia, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Sep. 2025 People kept reminding her of that near miss. Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 2 Sep. 2025 Following the post, many of Moulton’s Instagram followers expressed their shock at the near miss. Gabrielle Rockson, People.com, 19 Aug. 2025 Despite all the success of his 2025 Tour, was a tiny part of Healy still dwelling on that near miss? Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for near miss

Word History

First Known Use

1940, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of near miss was in 1940

Cite this Entry

“Near miss.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/near%20miss. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

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