close to the wind

adj
/ˈkləʊs tə‿ðə ˈwɪnd/UK/ˈkloʊs tə‿ðə ˈwɪnd/US

Etymology

See sail close to the wind.

Definitions

  1. Near a limit of feasibility or compliance with law or morality.

    • I mean, I shouldn't be altogether flabbergasted if you were to tell me that there had been tax fiddles here, or even something a bit close to the wind where the play and the girls are concerned.
    • Coming on the heels of revelations about financial and property dealings a bit close to the wind in other sections of the Gaullist Party, the authority of the Prime Minister could not but be weakened
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically

    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see close to, the, wind.

  3. In a direction almost opposite to that from which the wind is blowing.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for close to the wind. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA