what does the sentence "a near miss" really mean?

Question

does it suggest a "lucky hit" it does not make sense
"it was a near miss,but it worked out bad in the end it hit bang on target" wouldnt "a near hit" be more appropriate if a disaster was averted by the skin of its teeth

Answer 1

I think its kind of a relief phrase. Like, "wow, glad you avoided that bad situation" kind of feeling.

Answer 2

A "near miss" has 3 definitions: (1)something that is narrowly avoided (like a collision between cars, boats, airplanes,etc; a disaster averted--like in your question); (2) something extremely close but not directly on target (like a missile strike); and (3) something that fails by a narrow margin (like John Doe's election to the Senate was a near miss when he lost to John Smith).
"Lucky hit" would mean something hit by accident : "The ammo dump was a lucky hit for the pilot because he was aiming at something else."
"Direct Hit" is something hit on purpose, and without fail, such as the words above "it hit bang on target."

Answer 3

Literally, a near miss is a miss (not a hit), but it's close enough as to cause some damage (such as a near miss by a torpedo bomb). The bomb itself doesn't hit, but the shockwave causes damage to the ship.