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View synonyms for by a hair

by a hair



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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 .
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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.

From Salon

FiveThirtyEight averages now have Harris up by a hair in Arizona and tied in Georgia.

From Slate

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.

From BBC

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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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