white-knuckle
Americanadjective
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causing fear, apprehension, or panic.
The plane made a white-knuckle approach to the fogged-in airport.
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experiencing fear, terror, or apprehension.
The white-knuckle crowd loved that director's newest horror movie.
adjective
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 step up in tensions has created a white knuckle moment for the markets with tech stocks under major pressure,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote to clients on Friday.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 11, 2025
“I’m just really, really sort of trying to white knuckle the present,” she said.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 22, 2021
“You basically white knuckle it and go through it in hopes that your affected family members haven’t given up on you,” Hill says.
From Washington Times • Oct. 19, 2019
One white knuckle ride on a bobsleigh down the Cresta Run resulted in a crash which left him bruised and concussed after finishing the descent on his backside.
From BBC • May 29, 2017
Most excited about: LVG Part II. The Manchester United manager enjoyed a white knuckle ride in his first season at the club, often flirting with disaster only to somehow emerge with the results.
From The Guardian • Aug. 5, 2015
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.
