also near-miss
(~es)
1.
You can say that there is a ~ when something is nearly hit by another thing, for example by a vehicle or a bomb.
Details have been given of a ~ between two airliners over southern England earlier this week...
We’ve had a few ~es in the raids, as I expect you’ve noticed.
= narrow escape
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2.
A ~ is an attempt to do something which fails by a very small amount.
...Milan’s successful defence of the European Cup and near-miss in the Italian championship last season.
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