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Showing results for close quarters. Search instead for close+quarters.
Synonyms

close quarters

American  
[klohs] / kloʊs /

noun

  1. a small, cramped place or position.

  2. direct and close contact in a fight.

    They met at close quarters, exchanging many quick jabs.
close quarters British  
/ kləʊs /

plural noun

  1. a narrow cramped space or position

    1. engaged in hand-to-hand combat

    2. in close proximity; very near together

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of close quarters

First recorded in 1745–55

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.