hairbreadth
1
6.3
- noun
- /ˈhɛrˌbrɛdθ/
- Informal
:
un pelo
- He escaped from the avalanche by a hairbreadth, just before it buried the path.
Examples
-
The car swerved just a hairbreadth away from colliding with the barrier.
-
Within a hairbreadth of having my two front teeth knocked out.
Fiction book (1996) -
"He paused a hairbreadth of time."
Fiction book (1999) -
They told harrowing stories of hairbreadth escapes from their homes.
Academic text (2015) -
"You work too hard, Doug, dear," she had said soothingly when he stamped into the house, ranting about missing the earlier train by a hairbreadth.
Fiction book (1991) -
"Wherein I spake of most disastrous chances, of moving accidents by flood and field of hairbreadth 'scapes..."
-
"Nothing to it when you're a couple of hose-nozzles away," the fire chief laughed, sticking his face a wine's hairbreadth from that of a startled Lev Konstantinovich Catz, who took a polite half step backward.
Fiction book (1990) -
She won the race by a hairbreadth, making it an incredibly close competition.
Synonyms
30
4.7
A very small amount showing how close something was to happening
14
5.6
A very small distance that decides who wins a race
3
5.6
A very small distance or amount
3
5.3
A very small amount or distance
1
6.9
A very small distance about as wide as a hair
1
7.6
Very close and almost not enough to win or pass
Antonyms
How Small
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word hairbreadth comes from hair and breadth, where 'breadth' means 'width', so it shows the 'width of a hair'. That's why hairbreadth means a very small distance or a narrow margin, like a close call.