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by a hair
Idioms and Phrases
Also, by a hairbreadth or whisker . Very narrowly. For example, His serve was out by a hair , or We made our flight by a hairbreadth , or Dad missed hitting the pole by a whisker . The first two hyperboles for the very narrowest margin date from the 1300s and 1400s respectively; whisker meaning “a small amount” was first recorded in 1913. Also see by the skin of one's teeth ; hang by a hair .Example Sentences
Somehow, the rockslide missed the village by a “hair”.
As of Wednesday, the measure was winning by a hair.
By a hair’s breadth, it didn’t, although the Germans sank 455 ships in the operation.
FiveThirtyEight averages now have Harris up by a hair in Arizona and tied in Georgia.
Anderson said she is really sorry to anyone who, like her mother and siblings, might have had a “minor heart attack” as Team GB crossed the finish line ahead of the Netherlands by a hair to take gold.
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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.
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