English [ edit ] Etymology [ edit ] From Job 19.20 . "My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh. I have escaped by the skin of my teeth." Pronunciation [ edit ] Prepositional phrase [ edit ] by the skin of one's teeth
( idiomatic ) barely ; closely ; by a narrow margin ; with nothing to spare .
Synonym: by a hair's breadth I passed the test by the skin of my teeth .
2022 November 16, Paul Bigland, “From rural branches to high-speed arteries”, in RAIL , number 970 , page 57 :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 .
Translations [ edit ] barely, closely
Catalan: pels pèls
Danish: på et hængende hår
Finnish: nipin napin (fi) , hiuksenhienosti (fi) , niukin naukin (fi) , hädin tuskin (fi) , juuri ja juuri
French: ( Canada ) par la peau des dents (fr) , ( colloquial ) d’un poil (fr) , par le chas de l’aiguille de justesse (fr) , ( rare ) à fleur de corde (fr)
German: mit knapper Not (de) ; mit Mühe und Not (de) ; um Haaresbreite mit Ach und Krach (de) ( informal ) ; mit Hängen und Würgen (de) ( informal )
Greek: παρά τρίχα (el) ( pará trícha )
Irish: idir cleith agus ursain
Italian: per un pelo per il rotto della cuffia
Latvian: par mata tiesu
Norwegian:
Bokmål: på hengende håret
Portuguese: por um fio por um triz (pt)
Russian: е́ле (ru) ( jéle ) , е́ле-е́ле (ru) ( jéle-jéle ) , едва́ (ru) ( jedvá ) , едва́-едва́ (ru) ( jedvá-jedvá ) , наси́лу (ru) ( nasílu )
Scots: by a bawhair
Scottish Gaelic: air èiginn
Spanish: con las justas dejando pelos en la gatera ( colloquial ) , por el canto de un duro ( colloquial; dated ) , por un pelo
Swedish: på håret (sv) , med blotta förskräckelsen (sv)
Thai: เส้นยาแดงผ่าแปด (th)
See also [ edit ] Further reading [ edit ] 
skin of my teeth on Wikipedia.Wikipedia 