phrasal verb · neutral
come close to
UK/kʌm kləʊs tuː/US/kʌm kloʊs tuː/come·CLOSE·to
speakingtask2
to almost do or experience something; to be nearly at a particular state
Examples
“She came close to winning the race but lost in the final metres.”
“The city came close to running out of water last summer.”
“We came close to missing the deadline.”
Band 8 sentence
“Despite extensive rehearsals, the orchestra came close to cancelling the concert due to a last‑minute illness.”
Collocations
- come close to winning
- come close to disaster
Word family
come close to vcomes close to vcame close to v (past)
Common mistakes
come closely to→come close to
came close for winning→came close to winning
Say it for a higher band
5almost→6nearly→7+come close to
Synonyms
nearly
Easily confused
nearly
“She nearly won the race.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In come …
Learn it with its set