Close shave 🪒🏃

Meaning

An instance of narrowly escaping danger or misfortune.

Origin

Imagine a barber in the 18th century, his razor sharp and his hand steady, shaving a gentleman's face. A moment's lapse in concentration, a sudden jolt, and the blade might come a fraction too close, nicking the skin. This vivid image of a razor dangerously near the flesh gave us the phrase "close shave." It captures that thrilling, almost imperceptible distance between safety and disaster, a moment so narrow it feels like the sharpest edge passing by your very throat.

☠️ risk 😨😱 fear 🦁💪 courage 🏆 success

Close shave represented with emoji🪒🏃

This playful pairing of a razor and a runner, 🪒🏃, functions as a delightful visual pun. It underscores the thrill of a 'close shave,' not just the literal act, but the exhilarating feeling of narrowly escaping something. Note how the simple icons evoke the tension between speed and precision, pausing for a moment to consider the fleeting nature of near misses.

Examples

  • The car swerved just in time, so it was a close shave for the pedestrian.
  • I almost missed my flight, but the gate was still open - a real close shave!
  • The squirrel dropped the acorn from the highest branch, but it landed in a soft pile of leaves; a truly close shave indeed.
  • The knight forgot his shield but managed to deflect the dragon's fiery breath with his frying pan, a remarkably close shave.

Frequently asked questions

Is 'close shave' a proverb or an idiom?

'Close shave' is considered an idiom. Idioms are phrases where the meaning isn't directly deducible from the individual words, fitting the figurative sense of narrowly escaping danger.

What is the opposite of a 'close shave'?

The opposite of a 'close shave' would be a disaster or a definite misfortune, as a close shave implies narrowly avoiding such an outcome.

Can a 'close shave' be a positive experience?

While a 'close shave' itself refers to the dangerous situation narrowly avoided, the experience of surviving it can certainly be perceived as positive or a relief. The phrase focuses on the proximity to danger, not the outcome itself.

Similar to "close shave"

Cutting it fine
Both phrases capture a moment of peril narrowly avoided, but 'cutting it fine' emphasizes a risky departure from a deadline or safety margin, often through a deliberate, though audacious, choice
Out of the woods
While 'close shave' points to a specific, sharp instance of danger, 'out of the woods' signifies a more extended period of relief from a threat, like emerging from a dense forest into open, safe territory
A whisker
Both touch on extreme proximity to disaster, yet 'a whisker' is more idiomatic and often used for inanimate events or purely statistical closeness, whereas 'close shave' implies a more personal, visceral brush with harm

Opposite of "close shave"

A foregone conclusion
Where 'close shave' celebrates an unexpected escape, 'a foregone conclusion' insists on the inevitability of an outcome, stripping away any drama of uncertainty or peril and replacing it with certainty
Asking for trouble
This phrase argues for the foolhardiness of tempting fate, directly contrasting with the relief of a 'close shave' by suggesting that danger wasn't just narrowly missed, but actively invited through recklessness
Tempting fate
This champions a cautious approach, arguing against the thrill of a near-miss implied in 'close shave' by highlighting the foolishness of pushing one's luck when disaster was a real possibility

Related to "close shave"

Narrowly escaped
This is the literal predicate for 'close shave', sharing the core meaning of avoiding a negative outcome by the slimmest of margins
Brushed with death
This phrase evokes a similar visceral experience of proximity to fatal danger as 'close shave', but amps up the intensity to specifically refer to the ultimate peril
Come a cropper
Unlike a 'close shave', this phrase signifies the unfortunate end result of not narrowly escaping danger, but succumbing to it
In harm's way
This sets the scene for a potential 'close shave', describing the state of being exposed to danger before the moment of escape