close thing

Haitian works like "Zonbi, Zonbi" should be watched closely by all interested in zombie lore, because they contend with the zonbi as it first appeared for the island's earliest Black inhabitants – as a heart thing, as a soul thing, as a scary thing, as a triumphant thing, as a specific thing, as a close, close thing.

It's easy to say now that "the system worked" but it was a very close thing, entirely dependent on the good faith actions of certain members of the government.

Trump didn't invoke the Insurrection Act, but the latest reporting by the New York Times on what happened that day shows that it was a very close thing.

In real life Roosevelt was almost assassinated in February 1933—a very close thing, the guy standing next to him was killed.

“It’s a pretty close thing to me and my family,” McKivitz said Tuesday.