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.
QUIZZES
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Test your memory on these verbal firecrackers from the week of June 29 to July 5!
Question 1 of 7
anchorite
Words nearby at close range
at bat, at bay, at best, at bottom, at close quarters, at close range, at cross purposes, at death's door, at each other's throats, at ease, at every turn
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.