By the Skin of One's Teeth.
English
idiom
Used to express that someone just barely achieved or avoided something.
Trusted by1.5M+English learners & teachers worldwide
Used to express that someone just barely achieved or avoided something.
Trusted by1.5M+English learners & teachers worldwide
To barely manage to succeed or escape something, with almost no margin to spare.
When you do something by the skin of your teeth, you make it but only just — the slightest difference would have meant failure.
It is used when someone narrowly avoids a bad outcome.
"Close Call"
—
A situation where something bad nearly happened but was avoided at the last moment
"Scrape Through"
—
Managing to pass or succeed, but only barely and with difficulty
"By the Skin of One's Teeth"
—
Succeeding or escaping by the narrowest possible margin
Did we make the deadline?
By the skin of our teeth — I uploaded it literally thirty seconds before it closed.
How did the job interview go — you seemed really nervous beforehand.
I got the job, but by the skin of my teeth — they said it was a very close decision.
Did you catch your train this morning?
By the skin of my teeth — I jumped on as the doors were closing.
