hairsbreadth

[ hairz-bredth, -bretth, -breth ]
See synonyms for hairsbreadth on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a very small space or distance: We escaped an accident by a hairsbreadth.

adjective
  1. extremely narrow or close.

Origin of hairsbreadth

1
First recorded in 1575–85

Words Nearby hairsbreadth

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hairsbreadth in a sentence

  • He was more than once within a hairsbreadth of death but at length he was brought by his master, Kakinathucca, to his home.

  • He had a habit of darting them around a wide circle of objects, without turning his head a hairsbreadth.

    Adle Dubois | Mrs. William T. Savage
  • We catch a word, a touch of flippancy, a suggestion of licence, a covert sneer which goes too far by a hairsbreadth.

    Judges and Ruth | Robert A. Watson
  • He carefully turned an unconnected control knob a hairsbreadth with utmost deliberation and precision.

    The Kenzie Report | Mark Clifton
  • Not by a hairsbreadth has all that has passed in the interval lowered you in my eyes.

    When We Dead Awaken | Henrik Ibsen

British Dictionary definitions for hair's-breadth

hair's-breadth

noun
    • a very short or imperceptible margin or distance

    • (as modifier): a hair's-breadth escape

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012