close shave
3
3.9
- noun
- Informal
:
cercano peligro
- After narrowly avoiding the accident, he realized it was a close shave.
- a very close shave
- get a close shave
Examples
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It's a close shave.
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That was a close shave!
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Well, my friends, that was a close shave.
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That was a close shave.
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That was a pretty close shave!
Fiction book (1993) -
Oh, my poor Madame, that was a close shave.
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That's a very close shave, indeed.
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That was a close shave, wasn't it?
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Batgirl: That's what I call a close shave.
Fiction book (1997) -
All in all, a close shave that cost the group a good deal in terms of sanity in addition to crippling the P.I.
Blog text (27)
Synonyms
43
3.7
A situation when something bad almost happens but is avoided
14
3.7
A time when a crash nearly happens but is avoided
4
3.1
A situation in which someone just avoids danger or a bad result
4
7.8
A result decided by a very small difference
1
5.3
A very close success or escape by a small margin
1
6.3
A very small distance in a close call
How Close
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a narrow escape' is motivated by the sense of 'shave' as barely touching or just missing something, combined with 'close' (near), so a learner who knows the non-literal sense of 'shave' could infer the idiom. However, many B1 learners will know 'shave' only in the grooming sense and may not predict this figurative usage, so the relation is only partially transparent and not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
The noun close shave may come from a barber nearly cutting someone's skin while giving a very close shave. So the image of almost being cut became a way to say a narrow escape, 'to avoid danger'.