white-knuckle

alternative white knuckle

1. idiomaticnot comparableCausing fear, excitement, apprehension, suspense, or nervousness.

   Most of the Denver-based Monitor writer’s work is less white-knuckle.

   2025 November 14, Clayton Collins, Jingnan Peng, “Getting access and clarity on the immigration beat: ‘I just ask. And ask again.’”, in The Christian Science Monitor

   2 more examples

   "No surprise given both Bellamy and White share - or have inherited - Hendrix's unique blend of experimental instincts and white-knuckle showmanship," said Mr Goldsmith.

   2009 November 27, “Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child has 'best guitar riff'”, in BBC

   BP said its capped-off well appeared to be holding steady Friday morning, almost midway into a white-knuckle waiting period in which engineers watched the pressure gauges for signs of a leak.

   2010 July 16, Colleen Long and Harry R. Weber, "BP capped well holding nearly a day into new fix", Associated Press wire

present singular third person white-knuckles · participle present white-knuckling · participle past white-knuckled · past white-knuckled · alternative white knuckle

1. transitiveTo endure despite feeling terror, fear, apprehension, anxiety, discomfort, or torment.

   The rest of the drive home I white knuckled it.

   2010, Tanya Ebert, Mystical Puzzle, page 24

   3 more examples

   “I white-knuckled it down there. Went as fast as I could. I didn't tell anyone I was going. When I got there, they wouldn't let me in. Because I wasn't family.”

   2017, Susan Mallery, Maisey Yates, Baby, It's Christmas & Hold Me, Cowboy

   There’s an industry term for white-knuckling it through crypto’s wild volatility without selling: “hodl.”

   2021 April 25, Erin Griffith, “We’re All Crypto People Now”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Some J-CATs didn't even take medication, meaning they white-knuckle this lifestyle, possibly unaware of their deviation from reality and normality.

   2023, Justin Cook, Infectious Injustice

2. transitiveTo grip tightly in fear, apprehension, suspense, or nervousness.

   That lifting sensation is so strong, I inadvertently feel myself white-knuckling the hand grips.

   2020 November 2, a425couple, “Honda Pulls Mario Andretti From Driving the Two-Seater IndyCar”, in rec.autos.sport.nascar (Usenet)