Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
close-run
adjective
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A close-run thing, Commander, a very close-run thing.
▪ All these chores, if efficiently organized, can tilt the balance in a close-run contest.
▪ Although it is a close-run thing arithmetically, there seems to be no real basis for this charge of bastardy.
▪ And with Comet Swift-Tuttle due to obliterate the Earth in August 2126, it could be a close-run thing.
▪ But it had been a very close-run thing.
▪ Now, with just one win in three matches, a close-run thing against Castleford reserves, opinions are hardening.
▪ The motion failed to obtain an absolute majority of 249 but it was a close-run thing.
Usage examples of "close-run".
Eddie hadn't quite got her to admit she had aided ecoterrorists, but it was a close-run thing.