close quarters
noun
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Nearby words
- close juncture,
- close one's eyes to,
- close out,
- close position,
- close punctuation,
- close quote,
- close ranks,
- close reach,
- close season,
- close shave
Origin of close quarters
Examples from the Web for close quarters
They snapped and barked, but had as yet come to no close-quarters since Tolleys adventure with the pepper-besprinkled Bible.
The Heart of Canyon Pass|Thomas K. HolmesThere was a flurrying exchange of close-quarters blows, Rorke spinning about so that his back was towards the referee.
Buff: A Collie and other dog-stories|Albert Payson TerhuneClose-quarters may be on any point, and the seaman rather delights in the bow attack, using the bowsprit as his bridge.
The Sailor's Word-Book|William Henry SmythThe close-quarters projectile of to-day is more usually shrapnel with the fuze set at zero.
close quarters
pl n
- engaged in hand-to-hand combat
- in close proximity; very near together
close quarters
1753, originally nautical, also close-fights, "bulkheads fore and aft for men to stand behind in close engagements to fire on the enemy," it reflects the confusion of close (v.) and close (adj.); "now understood of proximity, but orig. 'closed' space on ship-board where last stand could be made against boarders" [Weekley]. Cf. also closed-minded, a variant of close-minded attested from 1880s, with a sense of "shut" rather than "tight."