Too close to call


Resulting in too narrow a margin to make a decision, as in That ball didn’t miss by much but it was too close to call, or The election was too close to call, so they decided to have a runoff. This expression comes from sports, where call has signified “a judgment” since the mid-1600s. In the 1960s it began to be applied to pre-election polls and then to the outcome of elections.

Read Also:

  • Toodle-oo

    interjection, Informal. 1. goodbye; so long. sentence substitute 1. (Brit, informal, rare) goodbye too-bad

  • Tooele

    noun 1. a town in NW Utah.

  • Too good to be true

    So excellent that it defies belief, as in She loves all her in-laws? That’s too good to be true. This term expresses the skeptical view that something so seemingly fine must have something wrong with it. The term was part of the title of Thomas Lupton’s Sivquila; Too Good to be True (1580).

  • Too hot to handle

    too big for one’s breeches

  • Took

    verb 1. simple past tense of take. 2. Nonstandard. a past participle of take. verb (used with object), took, taken, taking. 1. to get into one’s hold or possession by voluntary action: to take a cigarette out of a box; to take a pen and begin to write. 2. to hold, grasp, or grip: to […]


Disclaimer: Too close to call definition / meaning should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. All content on this website is for informational purposes only.