white-knuckle

[ hwahyt-nuhk-uhl, wahyt- ]

/ ˈʰwaɪtˈnʌk əl, ˈwaɪt- /

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adjective Informal.

causing fear, apprehension, or panic: The plane made a white-knuckle approach to the fogged-in airport.

experiencing fear, terror, or apprehension: The white-knuckle crowd loved that director's newest horror movie.

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Often white-knuck·led .

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use white-knuckle in a sentence

The breakdown of the 114th Congress is 80 percent white, 80 percent male, and 92 percent Christian.
The Unbearable Whiteness of Congress|Dean Obeidallah|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
If Congress accurately reflected our nation on the basis of race, about 63 percent would be white, not 80 percent.
The Unbearable Whiteness of Congress|Dean Obeidallah|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There were rumors of shrieks and flashes emanating from the well, and reports of a figure in white.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion|Nina Strochlic|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The FBI raided his home in 2000 with an affidavit questioning his use of $200,000 from his white supremacist fundraising.
The Price of Steve Scalise’s Silence|Jason Berry|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

But after winning 55 percent of the white vote, Duke had a database of supporters some politicians coveted.
The Price of Steve Scalise’s Silence|Jason Berry|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And she would be wearing some of the jewels with the white dress—just a few, not many, of course.
Rosemary in Search of a Father|C. N. Williamson
None other would dare to show herself unveiled to a stranger, and a white man at that.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
One would not have wanted her white neck a mite less full or her beautiful arms more slender.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
That evening in the gondola, with one old and two newer friends, is marked with a white stone in my recollection.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
Why not have sought out the pure white lime-rocks of the flat country, or the grey granite of the hills?
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various

British Dictionary definitions for white-knuckle

white-knuckle

adjective

causing or experiencing fear or anxietya white-knuckle ride

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

white-knuckle

Words related to white-knuckle

How to use white-knuckle in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for white-knuckle