hairbreadth
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of hairbreadth
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I spoke of most disastrous chances, Of moving accidents by flood and field; Of hairbreadth ’scapes i’ th’ imminent deadly breach; Of being taken by the insolent foe And sold to slavery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
In a theater dependent on exaggerated storylines — hairbreadth escapes, implausible coincidences and either conclusively happy or disastrous endings — how can the momentousness of ordinary life be captured?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2023
We all finished, and within a hairbreadth of our goal times.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 28, 2022
On Wednesday, the campaign was just a hairbreadth away from reaching its goal of $1.7 million, thanks to 3,400 donors, roughly double the number in mid-December last year.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 17, 2020
He packed Us scanty traps, not understanding what had happened, but feeling that he had escaped calamity by a hairbreadth.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
