perilously close to

idiom

somewhat formal
: at or to a point where one is in great danger of (something happening)
The company was perilously close to bankruptcy.
She came perilously close to drowning.

Examples of perilously close to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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The rules are designed to prevent incidents like the near-disaster involving the Viking Sky in 2019, when the ship lost all engine power during a storm and came perilously close to running aground with 1,373 people aboard. David Nikel, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025 Other species are located in areas perilously close to enemy lines, nearly starving to death before they can be accessed. Dennis Harvey, Variety, 8 Jan. 2025 Brentford had a reprieve against Ipswich, who were perilously close to serving a goal up on a plate to West Ham in October. Stuart James, The Athletic, 19 Dec. 2024 Yann Sommer came perilously close to being harried into embarrassing errors by Guiu on several occasions in the first half and the home crowd immediately warmed to the 18-year-old’s relentless enthusiasm and bustling physicality. Liam Twomey, The Athletic, 11 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for perilously close to 

Dictionary Entries Near perilously close to

Cite this Entry

“Perilously close to.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perilously%20close%20to. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.

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