a close call

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to give me your considered opinion concerning the interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentences?

Why, he mighty near starved…. So he learnt the trade, and then he was all right - but it was a close call. (M. Twain, “The American Claimant)

John Robillard had a close call that summer. He never would have survived but for the way his mate nursed him. (K. S. Prichard, “The Roaring Nineties”)

a close call = by a thread, a close shave, a narrow escape

someone has a close call = one’s life hangs by a thread

V.

[Bennevis]

As far as the 1st meaning, they use it in sports.

Two guys are watching a soccer game. The team they root for scores. But the referee rules it offside:

- We would've been up two-nil by now.
- Yeah, that was a close call.