cheek by jowl Side by side, in close proximity. Cheek by jowl, in use since 1577, is a variation of the older cheek by cheek, which dates from 1330. In modern English jowl means either jaw’ or ‘cheek,’ although it is more often construed as the former. Shakespeare used the expression in A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
Nay, I’ll go with thee, cheek by jowl. (III, ii)
in spitting distance Close, at arm’s length. This expression denoting a short distance is based on the simple crude idea that one can spit only so far.
a stone’s throw A short distance; close by.
Three mighty churches, all within a stone’s throw of one another. (Augustus Jessopp, Coming of the Friars, 1889)
This common expression obviously alludes to the limited distance that one can throw a small rock.
within an ace Within a hair’s-breadth; very close; on the brink or verge; almost. This popular phrase, which dates from 1704, stems from the figurative use of ace to mean ‘a minute portion, a jot.’ Hence:
I was within an ace of being talked to death. (Thomas Brown, Letters, 1704)
| Noun | 1. | proximity - the property of being close together |
| 2. | proximity - the region close around a person or thing locality, neck of the woods, neighborhood, neighbourhood, vicinity - a surrounding or nearby region; "the plane crashed in the vicinity of Asheville"; "it is a rugged locality"; "he always blames someone else in the immediate neighborhood"; "I will drop in on you the next time I am in this neck of the woods" | |
| 3. | proximity - a Gestalt principle of organization holding that (other things being equal) objects or events that are near to one another (in space or time) are perceived as belonging together as a unit Gestalt law of organization, Gestalt principle of organization - a principle of Gestalt psychology that identifies factors leading to particular forms of perceptual organization |