near thing

It was a near thing though, and if I had not met you as I did, we should scarcely have done it.

"It was a near thing—a michty near thing," he admitted in the square.

It was a near thing, and Conal used his tongue pretty freely when he talked of it.

It was a near thing for the doctor, however, and two minutes more of that grip would have done for him.

The Duke of Wellington used to say that "In every case, the winning of a battle was always a damned near thing."