the nearest thing to something
the nearest equivalent to something

And he is the nearest thing I have known to it.

"Let's give them the nearest thing to a solid wall we can."

I was the nearest thing to any family she had.

At the moment, it was the nearest thing to a home I owned.

For many of us, it's the nearest thing to real living culture that we can experience.

He is the nearest thing to a hard that we have in our world.

I seated myself quickly in the nearest thing at hand.

To children who had never known parents, perhaps she was the nearest thing to a mother that they would ever have.

For whatever reason, the Council is the nearest thing we have to a government.

It must have been the nearest thing to hell on earth.