Faillir

In English, we often use the words "just" or "nearly" to indicate a narrow miss. In French, this is translated using the word "faillir", which could loosely be translated as "failed".

Examples

Il a failli avoir un accident.             He almost had an accident.
Elle a failli mourir.                          She nearly died.
J'ai failli rater l'avion.                      I nearly missed the plane.