Near Miss :



It is futile to protest that “near miss” should be “near collision.”


This expression is a condensed version of something like “a miss that came very near to being a collision” and is similar to “narrow escape.”


Everyone knows what is meant by it and almost everyone uses it.


It should be noted that the expression can also be used in the sense of almost succeeding in striking a desired target:


“His Cointreau soufflé was a near miss.”