narrowly escaping shipwreck

[atabitaraf]

On Longman dictionary, under the definition of shipwreck, there is an example: 'narrowly escaping shipwreck'. I do not know what that means. I could guess that describes a ship that escaped the accident very narrowly, but I cannot figure it out why they still call it a shipwreck! - a shipwreck that is narrowly escaping?

 

[dunchee]

Here is one example:
Harper's New Monthly Magazine - Volume 43 - Page 373
Henry Mills Alden · 1871
"Narrowly escaping shipwreck, and still more narrowly having his baggage burned on board the vessel at Norfolk, he reached his home on the 23d of December."

"Narrowly escaping shipwreck" : it basically provides a background information and means "he narrowly escaped shipwreck."

 

[emsr2d2]

On In the Longman dictionary, under the definition of "shipwreck", there is an the following example:
'narrowly escaping shipwreck'.

I do not know what that means. I could guess that it describes a ship that escaped the accident very narrowly, but I cannot figure it out why they still call it a shipwreck! - a shipwreck that is narrowly escaping?

If you narrowly escape something/doing something, it means you come very close to doing it. In this case, it means the ship was nearly shipwrecked but somehow escaped that terrible fate.