narrow escape
nounUK /ˌnæɹəʊ ɪˈskeɪp/ · US /ˌnæɹoʊ əˈskeɪp/
Etymology From narrow (“having a small degree or margin”, adjective) + escape (noun).
1
A situation in which some danger or unfortunate circumstance is only just avoided.
- Meredith referred to the turnpike or carriage road constructed by the Tredegar Iron Company alongside the tramroad from Penllwyn Mawr to Tredegar, and said there was no fence between the two; he had experienced narrow escapes at times when on horseback, for horses occasionally took fright when meeting locomotives.1939 September, Charles E. Lee, “The Sirhowy Valley and Its Railways—I”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 207:
- Related terms
- by a hair's breadth, by the skin of one's teeth, cheat death, dodge a bullet, hair's breadth