as in narrow escape
a barely successful escape from something undesirable
the passengers in the jeep had a close shave when a mine exploded just a few yards away
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Recent Examples of close shave
Our favorites helped our razors glide smoothly across the skin for an ultra-close shave, while aloe vera and almond oil soothed, hydrated, and enhanced the skin’s appearance — mitigating irritation.
—
Maggie Horton, PEOPLE, 11 Sep. 2025
Meant to be used anywhere and everywhere, this delivers a smooth and close shave by reducing friction with allantoin and infusing skin with shea butter, glycerin and squalane for softness and moisture.
—Celia Shatzman, Forbes.com, 29 June 2025
The floating, vibrating head gave me a really close shave, especially with my shaving cream.
—Malia Griggs, Glamour, 16 May 2025
Their characters have had plenty of close shaves, although most didn't involve razors.
—Chris Cosgrove, EW.com, 17 Apr. 2025
Cartridge razors feature disposable cartridges, where two to six blades are tightly spaced for a quick, close shave.
—Annie Blackman, Allure, 27 Mar. 2025
Looking Ahead: The Anteaters survived an extremely close shave with a talented UC Santa Barbara team last Thursday to stay alive in the at-large picture.
—Jim Root, The Athletic, 20 Feb. 2025
Both losses were close shaves, 51-47 to T.F. South and 45-42 to Oak Lawn.
—Jeff Vorva, Chicago Tribune, 14 Feb. 2025
Maggie Horton, PEOPLE, 11 Sep. 2025
Meant to be used anywhere and everywhere, this delivers a smooth and close shave by reducing friction with allantoin and infusing skin with shea butter, glycerin and squalane for softness and moisture.
—Celia Shatzman, Forbes.com, 29 June 2025
The floating, vibrating head gave me a really close shave, especially with my shaving cream.
—Malia Griggs, Glamour, 16 May 2025
Their characters have had plenty of close shaves, although most didn't involve razors.
—Chris Cosgrove, EW.com, 17 Apr. 2025
Cartridge razors feature disposable cartridges, where two to six blades are tightly spaced for a quick, close shave.
—Annie Blackman, Allure, 27 Mar. 2025
Looking Ahead: The Anteaters survived an extremely close shave with a talented UC Santa Barbara team last Thursday to stay alive in the at-large picture.
—Jim Root, The Athletic, 20 Feb. 2025
Both losses were close shaves, 51-47 to T.F. South and 45-42 to Oak Lawn.
—Jeff Vorva, Chicago Tribune, 14 Feb. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for close shave
close call
Noun
-
Following the close call, Rollins took the microphone and agreed to the mixed tag match for Wrestlepalooza on behalf of himself and his wife.—
Matthew Couden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Sep. 2025
-
The incident is the latest close call at Washington’s Reagan National Airport since the beginning of the year.—
Aaron Cooper,
CNN Money,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Close shave.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/close%20shave. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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