hairsbreadth
Americannoun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of hairsbreadth
First recorded in 1575–85
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.
“This is why last year was much more stressful in many ways. We did come within a hairsbreadth of triaging patients last year.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2022
These factors could already be steering the world ever closer to a new Cuban Missile Crisis, when the world came within a hairsbreadth of nuclear incineration.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2018
Sagan won the race by a hairsbreadth with some deft sprinting at the finish line.
From BBC ● Apr. 7, 2018
Most people might be in a bit of a flap on hairsbreadth avoidance of death.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 15, 2017
Frank King followed Madge, and it was most extraordinary how she was always missing by a hairsbreadth, and leaving balls over pockets.
From The Beautiful Wretch; The Pupil of Aurelius; and The Four Macnicols by William Black
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.
