by a thread
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As the profession hangs by a thread, New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology and big retailers are offering sewing classes and apprenticeships to revive it.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
With 90 minutes left before his deadline expired, he announced a two-week ceasefire that appears to be hanging by a thread.
From Salon • Apr. 11, 2026
Then 27th-ranked Italy, in their first World Cup, needed 30 from the last two overs in Kolkata on Monday for a giant-killing that could have left England's World Cup hopes hanging by a thread.
From Barron's • Feb. 19, 2026
Watson has the both the artistic acumen and audience sensitivity needed to usher Skylight through this perilous moment in the American theater when so many companies seem to be holding on by a thread.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2025
It was an existence that hung by a thread.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
