at close range


Very nearby, as in At close range, the rock band was unbearably loud. Derived from shooting—range denotes the distance that missile or projectile can be made to travel—this expression soon came to mean anything in close proximity.

Words Nearby at close range

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.