By the skin of your teeth
Meaning: By the narrowest possible margin.
Language: English
Literally: By the skin of your teeth
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: From the Book of Job in the 1560 Geneva Bible; since teeth have no skin, the margin of escape is vanishingly thin.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- Ser uña y carne — To be inseparable; the closest of friends.
- Fare le corna — To ward off bad luck — or to signal that a partner is being unfaithful.
- Stare con le mani in mano — To stand around doing nothing while others work.
- 腹が黒い — Scheming and malicious behind a friendly face.
- Зарубить на носу — To remember something firmly, once and for all.
- Iets onder de knie hebben — To have mastered a skill.
More English idioms
- To rain on someone's parade — To spoil someone's plans or happy moment.
- To have a chip on your shoulder — To harbor a grudge or a defensive sense of grievance.
- To cost an arm and a leg — To be extremely expensive.
- To burn the midnight oil — To work late into the night.
- Once in a blue moon — Very rarely.
- To break the ice — To ease the initial tension in a social situation.
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