"by the skin of one's teeth" meaning in English

See by the skin of one's teeth in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Prepositional phrase

Audio: en-au-by the skin of one's teeth.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: * From Job 19.20. "My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth." Head templates: {{head|en|prepositional phrase|head=by the skin of one's teeth}} by the skin of one's teeth, {{en-prep phrase|by the skin of one's teeth}} by the skin of one's teeth
  1. (idiomatic) barely; closely; by a narrow margin; with nothing to spare. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: by a hair's breadth Related terms: close shave Translations (barely, closely): pels pèls (Catalan), på et hængende hår (Danish), nipin napin (Finnish), hiuksenhienosti (Finnish), niukin naukin (Finnish), hädin tuskin (Finnish), juuri ja juuri (Finnish), par la peau des dents [Canada] (French), d’un poil [colloquial] (French), par le chas de l’aiguille (French), de justesse (French), à fleur de corde [rare] (French), mit knapper Not (German), mit Mühe und Not (German), um Haaresbreite (German), mit Ach und Krach [informal] (German), mit Hängen und Würgen [informal] (German), παρά τρίχα (pará trícha) (Greek), idir cleith agus ursain (Irish), per un pelo (Italian), per il rotto della cuffia (Italian), par mata tiesu (Latvian), på hengende håret (Norwegian Bokmål), por um fio (Portuguese), por um triz (Portuguese), е́ле (jéle) (Russian), е́ле-е́ле (jéle-jéle) (Russian), едва́ (jedvá) (Russian), едва́-едва́ (jedvá-jedvá) (Russian), наси́лу (nasílu) (Russian), by a bawhair (Scots), air èiginn (Scottish Gaelic), con las justas (Spanish), dejando pelos en la gatera [colloquial] (Spanish), por el canto de un duro [colloquial, dated] (Spanish), por un pelo (Spanish), på håret (Swedish), med blotta förskräckelsen (Swedish), เส้นยาแดงผ่าแปด (Thai)
    Sense id: en-by_the_skin_of_one's_teeth-en-prep_phrase-1VfFmrHc Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Greek terms with redundant script codes

Download JSON data for by the skin of one's teeth meaning in English (5.9kB)

{
  "etymology_text": "* From Job 19.20. \"My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.\"",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": "by the skin of one's teeth"
      },
      "expansion": "by the skin of one's teeth",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "by the skin of one's teeth"
      },
      "expansion": "by the skin of one's teeth",
      "name": "en-prep phrase"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Greek terms with redundant script codes",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant script codes",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I passed the test by the skin of my teeth.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 November 16, Paul Bigland, “From rural branches to high-speed arteries”, in RAIL, number 970, page 57",
          "text": "I would have liked to have hung around in Birmingham, but my connections are tight owing to a points failure, and I make the CrossCountry Class 170 to Derby by the skin of my teeth.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "barely; closely; by a narrow margin; with nothing to spare."
      ],
      "id": "en-by_the_skin_of_one's_teeth-en-prep_phrase-1VfFmrHc",
      "links": [
        [
          "barely",
          "barely"
        ],
        [
          "closely",
          "closely"
        ],
        [
          "narrow",
          "narrow"
        ],
        [
          "margin",
          "margin"
        ],
        [
          "spare",
          "spare"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) barely; closely; by a narrow margin; with nothing to spare."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "close shave"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "by a hair's breadth"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "ca",
          "lang": "Catalan",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "pels pèls"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "på et hængende hår"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "nipin napin"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "hiuksenhienosti"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "niukin naukin"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "hädin tuskin"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "juuri ja juuri"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "tags": [
            "Canada"
          ],
          "word": "par la peau des dents"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "tags": [
            "colloquial"
          ],
          "word": "d’un poil"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "par le chas de l’aiguille"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "de justesse"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "tags": [
            "rare"
          ],
          "word": "à fleur de corde"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "mit knapper Not"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "mit Mühe und Not"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "um Haaresbreite"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "tags": [
            "informal"
          ],
          "word": "mit Ach und Krach"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "tags": [
            "informal"
          ],
          "word": "mit Hängen und Würgen"
        },
        {
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "pará trícha",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "παρά τρίχα"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "idir cleith agus ursain"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "per un pelo"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "per il rotto della cuffia"
        },
        {
          "code": "lv",
          "lang": "Latvian",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "par mata tiesu"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "på hengende håret"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "por um fio"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "por um triz"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "jéle",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "е́ле"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "jéle-jéle",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "е́ле-е́ле"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "jedvá",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "едва́"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "jedvá-jedvá",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "едва́-едва́"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "nasílu",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "наси́лу"
        },
        {
          "code": "sco",
          "lang": "Scots",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "by a bawhair"
        },
        {
          "code": "gd",
          "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "air èiginn"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "con las justas"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "tags": [
            "colloquial"
          ],
          "word": "dejando pelos en la gatera"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "tags": [
            "colloquial",
            "dated"
          ],
          "word": "por el canto de un duro"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "por un pelo"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "på håret"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "med blotta förskräckelsen"
        },
        {
          "code": "th",
          "lang": "Thai",
          "sense": "barely, closely",
          "word": "เส้นยาแดงผ่าแปด"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-by the skin of one's teeth.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3a/En-au-by_the_skin_of_one%27s_teeth.ogg/En-au-by_the_skin_of_one%27s_teeth.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/En-au-by_the_skin_of_one%27s_teeth.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "by the skin of one's teeth"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "* From Job 19.20. \"My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.\"",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": "by the skin of one's teeth"
      },
      "expansion": "by the skin of one's teeth",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "by the skin of one's teeth"
      },
      "expansion": "by the skin of one's teeth",
      "name": "en-prep phrase"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "close shave"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English prepositional phrases",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "Greek terms with redundant script codes"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I passed the test by the skin of my teeth.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 November 16, Paul Bigland, “From rural branches to high-speed arteries”, in RAIL, number 970, page 57",
          "text": "I would have liked to have hung around in Birmingham, but my connections are tight owing to a points failure, and I make the CrossCountry Class 170 to Derby by the skin of my teeth.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "barely; closely; by a narrow margin; with nothing to spare."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "barely",
          "barely"
        ],
        [
          "closely",
          "closely"
        ],
        [
          "narrow",
          "narrow"
        ],
        [
          "margin",
          "margin"
        ],
        [
          "spare",
          "spare"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) barely; closely; by a narrow margin; with nothing to spare."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "by a hair's breadth"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-by the skin of one's teeth.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/3a/En-au-by_the_skin_of_one%27s_teeth.ogg/En-au-by_the_skin_of_one%27s_teeth.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/En-au-by_the_skin_of_one%27s_teeth.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "ca",
      "lang": "Catalan",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "pels pèls"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "på et hængende hår"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "nipin napin"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "hiuksenhienosti"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "niukin naukin"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "hädin tuskin"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "juuri ja juuri"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "tags": [
        "Canada"
      ],
      "word": "par la peau des dents"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "word": "d’un poil"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "par le chas de l’aiguille"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "de justesse"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "tags": [
        "rare"
      ],
      "word": "à fleur de corde"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "mit knapper Not"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "mit Mühe und Not"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "um Haaresbreite"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ],
      "word": "mit Ach und Krach"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ],
      "word": "mit Hängen und Würgen"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "pará trícha",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "παρά τρίχα"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "idir cleith agus ursain"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "per un pelo"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "per il rotto della cuffia"
    },
    {
      "code": "lv",
      "lang": "Latvian",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "par mata tiesu"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "på hengende håret"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "por um fio"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "por um triz"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "jéle",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "е́ле"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "jéle-jéle",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "е́ле-е́ле"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "jedvá",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "едва́"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "jedvá-jedvá",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "едва́-едва́"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "nasílu",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "наси́лу"
    },
    {
      "code": "sco",
      "lang": "Scots",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "by a bawhair"
    },
    {
      "code": "gd",
      "lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "air èiginn"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "con las justas"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "word": "dejando pelos en la gatera"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "dated"
      ],
      "word": "por el canto de un duro"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "por un pelo"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "på håret"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "med blotta förskräckelsen"
    },
    {
      "code": "th",
      "lang": "Thai",
      "sense": "barely, closely",
      "word": "เส้นยาแดงผ่าแปด"
    }
  ],
  "word": "by the skin of one's teeth"
}

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