spitting distance en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) A short distance.
They live within spitting distance of a busy runway at London's Heathrow Airport.
1972 September, John Pearson, “Science Worldwide”, in Popular Mechanics, page 36:[N]o less than forty defaulters in the executive, within spitting distance of the President, have not alone been proved so, but still retain their places.
1840, A. Traveller, Notes upon Canada and the United States: from 1832 to 1840, Rogers and Thompson (Toronto), p. 180"Look around. Justice Building. County Jail. Sheriff's Department. A thousand cops within spitting distance."
2007, Paul Levine, Trial & Error, →ISBN, page 120:In these craft they risk the extreme perils of the sea. . . . They have been within spitting distance of collision and bumping distance of the bottom.
1899 April 27, Rudyard Kipling, quoted in "A Fleet in Being: Men who take their chances," West Coast Times (New Zealand), p. 4 (retrieved 15 Oct 2010)
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| shouting distance | alternative | lexicographic | |
| spitting distances | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Relateds
a hoot and a holler · stone's throw · hop, skip, and a jump
Translations (5)
hu köpésnyi (a short distance) · tr kıl payı (a short distance) · el δυο βήματα (a short distance) · fr à un jet de pierre (a short distance) · fr à deux doigts (a short distance)