near miss 
noun
1A narrowly avoided collision or other accident: she had a near miss when her horse was nearly sucked into a dyke the terrifying near miss took place at 4,500 ft...
- Tired and undermanned ships crews have lead to a worrying number of merchant ships being involved in collisions or near misses, a marine accident investigation chief has said.
- Members of Calne Town Council are campaigning for safer roads following a number of accidents and near misses in the town.
- This is the third fatality I can recall in the time I have worked and lived in Undercliffe and I have sadly lost track of the number of non-fatal accidents and the countless near misses on the same stretch of road.
Synonyms
close thing, near thing, narrow escape, close call, nasty moment
informal close shave
British informal narrow squeak
2A bomb or shot that just misses its target: he had escaped more than twenty near misses...
- With a nuclear ballistic missile against a drone, a near miss was counted as a hit.
- In 1921 he was allowed to bomb US navy surplus or captured German warships and proved conclusively that even a near miss could sink them.
- He had then made a hasty and embarrassing retreat back into the thickets but had still had a near miss with a bullet that was fired after him, obviously to try and bring him down.
2.1Something almost achieved: a victory in Houston and a near miss in the finals of the French Open...
- After a horrific string of near misses, their final match saw them beat Selkirk 17-15 at Beveridge Park.
- Remarkably, in the space of just two weeks, Mayo football has regained respectability after a sequence of failures, disappointments and near misses.
- Portugal are determined to banish the memories of two World Cup qualification near misses by securing their place for the finals this time around.