# neck and neck

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/neck-and-neck
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

Very close in progress, as in a race or a contest.

## Examples

- The two runners are neck and neck near the finish line.
- The two chess players are neck and neck as the clock runs out.
- The two candidates are neck and neck in the polls, so the final debate will likely decide the election.
- Both companies are neck and neck to release their new smartphone first, so the engineers are working overtime this weekend.
- Throughout the final quarter of the championship game, the rival teams remained neck and neck, neither willing to concede an inch of ground to the other.

## Origin

Derived from the imagery of 19th-century horse racing, the term describes two or more competitors so evenly matched that their necks appear side-by-side as they approach the finish. The phrasing was firmly established in English sporting terminology by the 1830s to denote a race resulting in, or heading toward, a dead heat. The visual requirement for the idiom is literal; the horses must be sufficiently abreast that their relative positions cannot be distinguished by their anatomical extension.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.