close call
/kləʊskɔːl/ · close.call
noun
- A situation in which an injury or other undesirable outcome is narrowly avoided. He had a close call when a truck ran a red light and almost hit him.
Did you know? The phrase 'close call' is often used in sports, particularly in baseball, to describe a play where a runner is barely thrown out at a base, and its usage has expanded to describe any situation where someone narrowly avoids a problem or danger, making it a versatile and widely recognized idiom in American English.