Meanings
plural hairs' breadths · alternative hairsbreadth · alternative hairbreadth
- idiomaticA very small amount or distance.
We won by a hair's breadth.
5 more examples
hair's-breadth escapes [narrow escapes]
He missed me by a hair's breadth when he ran past me yesterday.
They came within a hair's breadth of contacting electrified water.
Measure Maddalena, and measure Minerva, and, from forehead to chin, you won't find a hair's breadth of difference between them.
1856, [William] Wilkie Collins, “The Yellow Mask”, in After Dark, volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., →OCLC, page 163"And then at last I see him, and behold, my chance is gone but by a hair's breadth even before I have it, for he is in the very jaws of death, whence no power of mine can draw him."
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna very small distance or space
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Ancient Greek ἐν χρῷ
- ἐν χρῷ (en khrōî)very small amount or distance
Finnish karvan verran, hitunen
- karvan verranvery small amount or distance
- hitunenvery small amount or distance
German Haaresbreite
- Haaresbreitevery small amount or distance
Hebrew כְּחוּט הַשַֹּעֲרָה
- כְּחוּט הַשַֹּעֲרָה (k'ẖut hasa'rá)very small amount or distance
Hungarian hajszálnyi
- hajszálnyivery small amount or distance
Polish piczy włos
- piczy włosvery small amount or distance
Welsh lled blewyn
- lled blewynvery small amount or distance
Cite this entry
hair's breadth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hair's%20breadth
“hair's breadth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hair's%20breadth. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hair's breadth,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hair's%20breadth.
Source: hair's breadth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.