Skip to main content
kid-glove precision

kid-glove precision

8.4
A very careful, gentle way of handling small things to avoid damage
  • noun
translation icon : precisión delicada
  • The watchmaker handled the tiny gears with kid-glove precision.

Examples

  • The surgeon operated with kid-glove precision.

  • He edited the manuscript with kid-glove precision, catching even the smallest errors.

  • Every operation in the laboratory requires kid-glove precision to avoid contamination.

  • Her kid-glove precision in crafting jewelry amazed everyone.

  • Every operation in the laboratory requires kid-glove precision to avoid contamination.

  • He edited the manuscript with kid-glove precision, catching even the smallest errors.

  • The watchmaker handled the tiny gears with kid-glove precision.

Synonyms

precision
vskid-glove precision
  • Specialized
157 4.2

The quality of being exact and giving the same result when repeated

adds gentle delicate care to exact and reproducible results
meticulousness
vskid-glove precision
1 7.5

A quality of being very careful about small details

is equally exact but performed with exceptional gentleness
minuteness
vskid-glove precision
  • Formal
7.0

Careful attention to very small details

is similar but adds careful delicate handling to those details
painstakingness
vskid-glove precision
7.8

Being very careful and doing every small part of a job well

prefers a light delicate touch rather than broad thoroughness

Antonyms

16 2.8

Lack of attention that causes mistakes or accidents

5 3.7

Careless, untidy behaviour that shows little attention to detail

How Precise

kid-glove precision
8.4
precision
  • Specialized
157 4.2
guestimate
  • Informal
7.9

Surface Forms

Morphology

kid-glove + precision

The noun 'precision' is transparent, but the modifier 'kid-glove' is an idiomatic descriptor whose meaning (‘very gentle, delicate, careful’) depends on knowledge of the idiom rather than a straightforward composition of 'kid' + 'glove'. A B1 learner who only knows the literal words will get a partial cue from 'glove' (softness/handling) but is unlikely to infer the exact evaluative sense without prior exposure or cultural knowledge, so the overall phrase is only partially transparent.

Etymology

The phrase kid-glove precision comes from soft gloves made of young goat skin called kid that people used to handle fragile things. Because those gloves let you touch things very gently, 'kid-glove' came to mean 'very careful', so kid-glove precision means doing work very carefully and exactly.