Similar to jQuery .closest() but traversing descendants?

Question

Is there a function similar to jQuery .closest() but for traversing descendants and returning only closest ones?

I know that there is

Answer 1

The following plugin returns the nth closest descendants.

$.fn.getNthClosestDescendants = function(n, type) {
  var closestMatches = [];
  var children = this.children();

  recursiveMatch(children);

  function recursiveMatch(children) {
    var matches = children.filter(type);

    if (
      matches.length &&
      closestMatches.length < n
    ) {
      var neededMatches = n - closestMatches.length;
      var matchesToAdd = matches.slice(0, neededMatches);
      matchesToAdd.each(function() {
        closestMatches.push(this);
      });
    }

    if (closestMatches.length < n) {
      var newChildren = children.children();
      recursiveMatch(newChildren);
    }
  }

  return closestMatches;
};