"hang by a thread" meaning in All languages combined

{
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to the anecdotal sword of Damocles, which was suspended by a hair.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hangs by a thread",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hanging by a thread",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hung by a thread",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hung by a thread",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hang<,,hung> by a thread"
      },
      "expansion": "hang by a thread (third-person singular simple present hangs by a thread, present participle hanging by a thread, simple past and past participle hung by a thread)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Cantonese terms with redundant transliterations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant transliterations",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2017 June 2, Nicola Davis, “Giant Antarctic iceberg 'hanging by a thread', say scientists”, in The Guardian, →ISSN",
          "text": "A giant section of an Antarctic ice shelf is hanging by a thread and could break off at any moment, researchers have revealed.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019 January 14, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: SCP-2935 - O, Death” (0:07 from the start), in The Exploring Series, archived from the original on 2023-03-25",
          "text": "Life in the SCP universe continually hangs by a thread, threatened constantly by the existence of a number of dangerous and apocalyptic anomalies. These threats are countered and contained by the existence of organizations such as the SCP Foundation or the Global Occult Coalition.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 January 28, Em Beihold, Nick Lopez, Dru DeCaro, “Numb Little Bug”, in Egg in the Backseat, performed by Em Beihold",
          "text": "Do you ever get a little bit tired of life / Like you're not really happy, but you don't wanna die / Like you're hanging by a thread, but you gotta survive / 'Cause you gotta survive",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be in danger, calling for precise caution; to be in a precarious situation."
      ],
      "id": "en-hang_by_a_thread-en-verb-NazsHnlc",
      "links": [
        [
          "danger",
          "danger"
        ],
        [
          "precise",
          "precise"
        ],
        [
          "caution",
          "caution"
        ],
        [
          "precarious",
          "precarious"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To be in danger, calling for precise caution; to be in a precarious situation."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "hang by a hair"
        },
        {
          "word": "hang on by a thread"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "aguantar-se per un fil"
        },
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "venir d'un fil"
        },
        {
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "roman": "kap¹ kap¹ ho² ngai⁴",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "岌岌可危"
        },
        {
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "命懸一線"
        },
        {
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "roman": "ming⁶ jyun⁴ jat¹ sin³",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "命悬一线"
        },
        {
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "roman": "ngai⁴ zoi⁶ daan³ zik⁶",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "危在旦夕"
        },
        {
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "千鈞一髮"
        },
        {
          "code": "yue",
          "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
          "roman": "cin¹ gwan¹ jat¹ faat³",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "千钧一发"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "jí jí kě wēi",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "岌岌可危"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "命懸一線"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "mìng xuán yī xiàn",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "命悬一线"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "wēi zài dàn xī",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "危在旦夕"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "千鈞一髮"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "qiān jūn yī fà",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "千钧一发"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "olla hiuskarvan varassa"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "ne tenir qu’à un fil"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "an einem seidenen Faden hängen"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "essere appeso a un filo"
        },
        {
          "code": "lv",
          "lang": "Latvian",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "karāties mata galā"
        },
        {
          "code": "mk",
          "lang": "Macedonian",
          "roman": "vísi na vlákno",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "ви́си на вла́кно"
        },
        {
          "code": "mk",
          "lang": "Macedonian",
          "roman": "vísi na kónec",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "ви́си на ко́нец"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "wisieć na włosku"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "visétʹ na voloske",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "висе́ть на волоске"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "pender de un hilo"
        },
        {
          "code": "th",
          "lang": "Thai",
          "roman": "kwăen bon sâynádâai",
          "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
          "word": "แขวนบนเส้นด้าย"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-hang by a thread.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5d/En-au-hang_by_a_thread.ogg/En-au-hang_by_a_thread.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/En-au-hang_by_a_thread.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hang by a thread"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to the anecdotal sword of Damocles, which was suspended by a hair.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hangs by a thread",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hanging by a thread",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hung by a thread",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hung by a thread",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hang<,,hung> by a thread"
      },
      "expansion": "hang by a thread (third-person singular simple present hangs by a thread, present participle hanging by a thread, simple past and past participle hung by a thread)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Cantonese terms with redundant transliterations",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms derived from Greek mythology",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2017 June 2, Nicola Davis, “Giant Antarctic iceberg 'hanging by a thread', say scientists”, in The Guardian, →ISSN",
          "text": "A giant section of an Antarctic ice shelf is hanging by a thread and could break off at any moment, researchers have revealed.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019 January 14, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: SCP-2935 - O, Death” (0:07 from the start), in The Exploring Series, archived from the original on 2023-03-25",
          "text": "Life in the SCP universe continually hangs by a thread, threatened constantly by the existence of a number of dangerous and apocalyptic anomalies. These threats are countered and contained by the existence of organizations such as the SCP Foundation or the Global Occult Coalition.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 January 28, Em Beihold, Nick Lopez, Dru DeCaro, “Numb Little Bug”, in Egg in the Backseat, performed by Em Beihold",
          "text": "Do you ever get a little bit tired of life / Like you're not really happy, but you don't wanna die / Like you're hanging by a thread, but you gotta survive / 'Cause you gotta survive",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To be in danger, calling for precise caution; to be in a precarious situation."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "danger",
          "danger"
        ],
        [
          "precise",
          "precise"
        ],
        [
          "caution",
          "caution"
        ],
        [
          "precarious",
          "precarious"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To be in danger, calling for precise caution; to be in a precarious situation."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "hang by a hair"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-hang by a thread.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5d/En-au-hang_by_a_thread.ogg/En-au-hang_by_a_thread.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/En-au-hang_by_a_thread.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "hang on by a thread"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "aguantar-se per un fil"
    },
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "venir d'un fil"
    },
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "roman": "kap¹ kap¹ ho² ngai⁴",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "岌岌可危"
    },
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "命懸一線"
    },
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "roman": "ming⁶ jyun⁴ jat¹ sin³",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "命悬一线"
    },
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "roman": "ngai⁴ zoi⁶ daan³ zik⁶",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "危在旦夕"
    },
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "千鈞一髮"
    },
    {
      "code": "yue",
      "lang": "Chinese Cantonese",
      "roman": "cin¹ gwan¹ jat¹ faat³",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "千钧一发"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "jí jí kě wēi",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "岌岌可危"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "命懸一線"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "mìng xuán yī xiàn",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "命悬一线"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "wēi zài dàn xī",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "危在旦夕"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "千鈞一髮"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "qiān jūn yī fà",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "千钧一发"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "olla hiuskarvan varassa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "ne tenir qu’à un fil"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "an einem seidenen Faden hängen"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "essere appeso a un filo"
    },
    {
      "code": "lv",
      "lang": "Latvian",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "karāties mata galā"
    },
    {
      "code": "mk",
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "roman": "vísi na vlákno",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "ви́си на вла́кно"
    },
    {
      "code": "mk",
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "roman": "vísi na kónec",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "ви́си на ко́нец"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "wisieć na włosku"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "visétʹ na voloske",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "висе́ть на волоске"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "pender de un hilo"
    },
    {
      "code": "th",
      "lang": "Thai",
      "roman": "kwăen bon sâynádâai",
      "sense": "to be in a precarious situation",
      "word": "แขวนบนเส้นด้าย"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hang by a thread"
}