by the skin of one's teeth

prepositional phrase

Barely; closely; by a narrow margin; with nothing to spare.

“I passed the test by the skin of my teeth.”

Similar
by a hair's breadthwith the skin of one's teeth
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Meanings

prepositional phrase(idiomatic)
  1. idiomaticBarely; closely; by a narrow margin; with nothing to spare.

    I passed the test by the skin of my teeth.

    1 more example

    I would have liked to have hung around in Birmingham, but my connections are tight owing to a points failure, and I make the CrossCountry Class 170 to Derby by the skin of my teeth.

    2022 November 16, Paul Bigland, “From rural branches to high-speed arteries”, in RAIL, number 970, page 57

    Synonyms: by a hair's breadth, with the skin of one's teeth

Synonyms & antonyms

prepositional phraseBarely; closely; by a narrow margin; with nothing to spare.

Similar
by a hair's breadthwith the skin of one's teeth
Also see
at a pinchby a hair's breadthwith the skin of one's teeth

Origin

* From Job 19.20. "My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth."

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan pels pèls
  • pels pèlsbarely, closely
Chinese Mandarin 千鈞一髮 /千钧一发, 勉強 /勉强
  • 千鈞一髮 /千钧一发 (qiānjūnyīfà)barely, closely
  • 勉強 /勉强 (miǎnqiǎng)barely, closely
Danish på et hængende hår
  • på et hængende hårbarely, closely
Finnish nipin napin, hiuksenhienosti
  • nipin napinbarely, closely
  • hiuksenhienostibarely, closely
  • niukin naukinbarely, closely
  • hädin tuskinbarely, closely
  • juuri ja juuribarely, closely
French par la peau des dents, d’un poil
  • par la peau des dentsbarely, closely
  • d’un poilbarely, closely
  • par le chas de l'aiguillebarely, closely
  • de justessebarely, closely
  • à fleur de cordebarely, closely
German mit knapper Not, mit Mühe und Not
  • mit knapper Notbarely, closely
  • mit Mühe und Notbarely, closely
  • um Haaresbreitebarely, closely
  • mit Ach und Krachbarely, closely
  • mit Hängen und Würgenbarely, closely
Greek παρά τρίχα
  • παρά τρίχα (pará trícha)barely, closely
Irish idir cleith agus ursain
  • idir cleith agus ursainbarely, closely
Italian per un pelo, per il rotto della cuffia
  • per un pelobarely, closely
  • per il rotto della cuffiabarely, closely
Latvian par mata tiesu
  • par mata tiesubarely, closely
Norwegian Bokmål på hengende håret
  • på hengende håretbarely, closely
Polish o mały włos
  • o mały włosbarely, closely
Portuguese por um fio, por um triz
  • por um fiobarely, closely
  • por um trizbarely, closely
Russian е́ле, е́ле-е́ле
  • е́ле (jéle)barely, closely
  • е́ле-е́ле (jéle-jéle)barely, closely
  • едва́ (jedvá)barely, closely
  • едва́-едва́ (jedvá-jedvá)barely, closely
  • наси́лу (nasílu)barely, closely
Scottish Gaelic air èiginn
  • air èiginnbarely, closely
Spanish con las justas, dejando pelos en la gatera
  • con las justasbarely, closely
  • dejando pelos en la gaterabarely, closely
  • por el canto de un durobarely, closely
  • por un pelobarely, closely
Swedish på håret, med blotta förskräckelsen
  • på håretbarely, closely
  • med blotta förskräckelsenbarely, closely
Thai เส้นยาแดงผ่าแปด
  • เส้นยาแดงผ่าแปดbarely, closely
Cite this entry
APA

by the skin of one's teeth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20the%20skin%20of%20one's%20teeth

MLA

“by the skin of one's teeth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20the%20skin%20of%20one's%20teeth. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “by the skin of one's teeth,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/by%20the%20skin%20of%20one's%20teeth.

Source: by the skin of one's teeth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.