cheek by jowl

Cultural  

1. Situated side by side or in close contact: “The commuters were packed in the subway cheek by jowl.”

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cheek by jowl Idioms  

1. Side by side, close together, as in In that crowded subway car we stood cheek by jowl, virtually holding one another up. This term dates from the 16th century, when it replaced cheek by cheek.

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Example Sentences

Ruoff’s team has already used it to make diamond films composed of thousands of tiny crystals packed cheek by jowl.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 24, 2024

A shocking image of hundreds of people waiting in line, practically cheek by jowl, along the snow-covered route in 2019 raised serious questions about safety.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2022

And instead of being crammed cheek by jowl in the press section, reporters, along with the justices’ law clerks, are spaced throughout the otherwise-empty chamber.

From Washington Post • Jan. 7, 2022

The voices of 36 choristers mix with the organ, a trumpet, a baritone horn, a violin, cymbals and the thundering timpani, as 400 congregants, packed cheek by jowl, join in.

From New York Times • Dec. 20, 2020

Here were no gold-plated buildings or great cathedrals, only shabby rows of houses, cheek by jowl.

From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood