by a hair's breadth , auch: by a hair's-breadth
by a hairbreadth

On another occasion they failed to win by a hairbreadth, and have the best record overall.

It missed her by a hairbreadth, but the action delighted the crowd.

"So much alike that we differ only by a hairbreadth.

A large crack now runs through it but misses the figure of Mary by a hairbreadth.

But the Mouser's dirk missed him by a hairbreadth and another blade whipped past his back.

The motion of the miniature saw was so precise that the top was cut off without being disturbed even by a hairbreadth.

He missed him by a hairbreadth.

But he failed by a hairbreadth.

If only by a hairbreadth.

Not even by a hairbreadth.

Again Sarek managed to dodge and twist, avoiding the blade by a hairbreadth.

Had his timing been off by a hairbreadth, he would have been cooked by the soup from the second pot.

The bolt pierced its plump blue-and-yellow breast; the arrow had missed it by a hairbreadth.

The dog dodged by a hairbreadth.

His body missed by a hairbreadth one of the steel supports of the trestle's overhead structure.

He had missed capture by a hairbreadth, but had lost neither his ambition nor his eagerness.

If The Shadow blundered by a hairbreadth, the penalty would be instantaneous cremation!

A whistle as his second joined it and a great cry of horror as his third skimmed the double eighteen by a hairbreadth.

Losing to JFK by a hairbreadth was certainly no disgrace, but losing (or, in essence, being forced to take a dive) to Brown was humiliating.

Mr. Eristoff beat Ms. Crotty by a hairbreadth in a special election nine months ago, but only after absentee votes and paper ballots were counted.

In February the amendment failed by a hairbreadth, thanks to an astonishing flare-up of old-fashioned Republican good sense and integrity from Senator Hatfield of Oregon.

While he lies tethered on a rack, the giant knives that fall from overhead and are supposed to miss him by a hairbreadth carve up his limbs and trunk.

The deflection saved his life as the black steel of the Ancient One's sword slashed through the sleeve of his shirt but missed his skin by a hairbreadth.

The bullet missed plowing into Chad's testicles by a hairbreadth, but scored a fine red mark on the inside of his milk-white thigh, and whistled past his face to slam into the ceiling.

Orphaned at the age of 7, Jackson spent his early years on the Western frontier, in what is now West Virginia, and managed by a hairbreadth to get an appointment to the West Point class of 1846.