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.
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
If you build a different spacecraft — one that’s bigger, or shaped a hairbreadth differently, or made from different materials — it could introduce all sorts of errors and complications.
From New York Times • Sep. 12, 2017
So, with a single, hairbreadth victory between the two coming in, the Huskies prevailed, 30-21.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 22, 2011
The Red Viper had even tried to defend the Imp, had come within a hairbreadth of a victory that would have allowed the dwarf to escape the blame for Joffrey’s murder.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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.
