hairbreadth 1 of 2

as in narrow
showing little difference in the standing of the competitors a hairbreadth victory, but a victory nevertheless

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hairbreadth

2 of 2

noun

variants or hairsbreadth

Examples of hairbreadth in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
In the end, Cuellar and his corporate backers carried the day (one marked also by the Uvalde school massacre), albeit by a hairbreadth margin. Andrew Cockburn, Harper’s Magazine , 20 July 2022 That mad quest for immortality is only one thread in an intricate narrative that encompasses witchcraft, impossible transformations, hairbreadth escapes, killer clowns and an assortment of innovative murders. Washington Post, 28 Nov. 2021 Nancy Pelosi will have a hairbreadth four-vote majority in the House with two seats still undecided. Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 17 Dec. 2020 The hairbreadth outcome in the race belied its sweeping consequences. Author: Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Mar. 2018
Noun
Should the electoral officials’ math hold up, the hairbreadth victory is likely to provide only limited comfort to Mr. del Mazo’s party. Kirk Semple and Marina Franco, New York Times, 4 June 2017 The year closed with the hairbreadth victory of a law-and-order Presidential nominee whose Southern strategy of racial politicking remade the electoral map. Jelani Cobb, The New Yorker, 9 Jan. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hairbreadth.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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Cite this Entry

“Hairbreadth.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hairbreadth. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

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