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View synonyms for Close, but no cigar

Close, but no cigar

  1. Even a near miss is still a miss. The saying probably originated with carnival contests in which a cigar was the prize for hitting a target.


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Idioms and Phrases

A narrowly missed success, as in That ball was definitely out—close but no cigar . This interjection alludes to awarding a cigar to the winner of some competition, such as hitting a target. [ Slang ; early 1900s]

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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.

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