narrow escape

Idioms  

1. A barely successful flight from or avoidance of danger or trouble, as in He had a narrow escape, since the bullet came within inches of his head. This expression uses narrow in the sense of “barely sufficient.” [Late 1500s] For a newer synonym, see close call.

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

narrow escape

Buoyed by that narrow escape, Paul then held to love to go 6-5 up, and suddenly the pressure was all on the 24-year-old from Buenos Aires, playing in his first ATP final.

From Barron's ● Apr. 5, 2026

Firstly, fourth seed Djokovic had a narrow escape when he recklessly cracked a ball close to a ball girl during his third-round win over Botic van de Zandschulp.

From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2026

Hers begins with her family’s narrow escape from an occupied village west of Kyiv in the early days of the war.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025

The duo only made a narrow escape, running from an Alpha in a heart-pounding chase sequence that boasts breathtaking experimental camerawork from Boyle.

From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2025

“At the end, we lucked out,” McNamara said of the world’s narrow escape in 1962.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

• close call
• shocker