cheek by jowl
1
6.5
- idiom
- Informal
:
codo a codo
- Animals and people live cheek by jowl in India's huge cities.
Examples
-
I was cheek by jowl with the commander.
Fiction book (1991) -
In this city, the rich and poor can live cheek by jowl.
-
Do you want to live cheek by jowl with your neighbors?
Blog text (4) -
After all, in the United States, people of varying ethnic origins live cheek by jowl in relative peace.
Academic text (2008) -
These places put people of many origins cheek by jowl and disallowed former regional identity.
Blog text (26) -
I am cheek-by-jowl with reedy aesthetes, crusty bards, and ladies of fierce intent.
Fiction book (1995) -
The American landscape, even in middle America and on Main Street, is now dotted with temples, pagodas, mosques, and gurdwaras cheek-by-jowl with churches and synagogues.
Academic text (2004) -
Where ancient buildings stand cheek by jowl, fire is one of the greatest fears (and the reason Venetian glass blowers long ago moved to the suburb of Murano).
Academic text (2009) -
Kuwait, which sits practically cheek-by-jowl with Iran, has already experienced war in its recent past when it was invaded by Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 1990 and liberated by a U.S.-led international coalition the following year.
Academic text (2015) -
For 10 minutes, they stand cheek by jowl in the rain.
Synonyms
390
1.0
Very near in place, time, or connection
98
2.2
Next to each other in the same place
58
1.0
Near each other with very little space between them
20
3.3
Standing very close together in a row or group
Antonyms
How Close
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'cheek' and 'jowl' are neighboring parts of the face and 'by' signals adjacency, so the image of two things being side‑by‑side directly yields the meaning 'very close together.' This spatial, imageable relation is compositionally transparent and would be apparent to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
The phrase cheek by jowl shows a picture of two faces so close that the cheek and jowl, the lower part of the face, touch. That's why it means 'very close together'.