within ames ace en · ADP
Etymology
See ambsace.
Meanings
-
(UK, idiomatic, obsolete) Nearly, very near.
[…]The possibility that he might prefer the excitement of such an adventure to an expedition into Yorkshire did occur to the Major, but he discarded it: Richmond had been within ames-ace of jumping at the chance offered him,[…].
1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 17, in The Unknown Ajax: