Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

skin of one's teeth

Cultural  

  1. To do something “by the skin of one's teeth” is to just manage to get it accomplished: “I never thought we'd get the magazine to the printer by the deadline, but we made it by the skin of our teeth.”

skin of one's teeth Idioms  

  1. see by the skin of one's teeth.

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.

He should have made many mistakes and been saved often by the skin of his teeth, for the skin of one’s teeth is the most teaching thing about one. 

From The Note-Books of Samuel Butler by Butler, Samuel

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.