definitions

too close to call

Resulting in too narrow a margin to make a decision, as in That ball didn't miss by much but it was too close to call, or The election was too close to call, so they decided to have a runoff. This expression comes from sports, where call has signified “a judgment” since the mid-1600s. In the 1960s it began to be applied to pre-election polls and then to the outcome of elections.

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RELATED WORDS

close, drawn, needle, tied, abreast, level, parallel, head-to-head

Nearby words

tony, too, too bad, too big for one's britches, too close for comfort, too close to call, too good to be true, too little, too late, too many cooks spoil the broth, too many irons in the fire, too much of a good thing
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.