to a hair
- idiom
- Informal
:
con precisión
- The results of the experiment matched the predictions to a hair, confirming our hypothesis.
Examples
-
Each must be judged; each met to a hair.
Fiction book (1994) -
The run time drops from 693 seconds to a hair under 14.
Blog text (20) -
He was a man of proportion and limits who weighed things out wisely in hundredths of a gram and measured them to a hair precisely, which is what she herself was not.
Fiction book (1993) -
The project was completed to a hair, meeting every deadline and requirement.
-
He managed to hit the target to a hair, showcasing his exceptional accuracy.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
In a completely correct way
163
3.0
In a correct and exact way
124
3.7
Do something in an exact and careful way
32
8.3
With great care and close attention to small details
31
6.0
Exactly right in what someone says or does
19
3.5
In a way that is done very well in every detail
15
5.9
Exactly correct in every detail
10
7.6
In a way that is exact in every detail
1
7.7
Exactly the right amount or degree needed
So exact that it leaves no room for error
Antonyms
How Exact
Surface Forms
Morphology
to + a + hair
The sense ‘with exact precision’ is directly inferable from the parts: 'to' marks the extent and 'a hair' evokes a very small margin or measure, so a learner who knows the constituents can compose the meaning as ‘up to a tiny amount / exactly’. This pattern (compare English 'by a hair' or Spanish 'por un pelo') is cross-linguistically common, making the expression readily comprehensible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The phrase to a hair may come from the image of measuring something down to a single hair, the very thin line that shows even the smallest difference. So saying something is done to a hair means it is done 'with exact precision'.