to come close
51
2.8
- phrasal verb
- /kʌm kloʊs/
:
estar a punto de
- Well, it's nice to know you at least came close.
- come close to achieving
- come close to meeting
- come close to the end
I never even came close to getting a job.
- I never even came close to getting a job.
- Lowest moment with killing Winston Jones where you came close to quitting?
- When the other person is in distress, you come close to the dying from it yourself.
- Culture that we sometimes come close to having.
- So let I'm not a free speech absolutist, but man, do I come close.
- So somebody always has to come close, right?
Examples
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We've come closer to the truth than we have in 300 years.
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I never even came close to getting a job.
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Now, if I come close to him, what am I going to do?
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No, the fun is to not come close to getting caught.
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You came close, but you never made it.
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So far, the government has failed even to come close to that target.
Academic text (2004) -
We have not come close to the successes that we wish.
-
It was kind of interesting, but the data did not come close to supporting the conclusions.
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To date, the composting system hasn't come close to handling that amount.
Academic text (1999) -
I never even came close to getting a job.
Synonyms
6
5.1
To come very close to being something
2
3.0
To almost do or experience something without doing it
Antonyms
How Close
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to be nearly equal or almost achieve' is directly derived from combining 'come' (arrive at a state) with 'close' (to draw near); the phrase literally conveys approaching nearness in amount, degree, or achievement. This compositional, non-idiomatic pattern is common cross-linguistically and should be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituents.
Etymology
Come close shows a simple picture: you come toward a goal but stop very close to it, like almost touching the finish line. That's why it means 'to nearly do or experience something'.