Barely; closely; by a narrow margin; with nothing to spare.
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I passed the test by the skin of my teeth.

Submitted on September 01, 2009

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1 Comment
  • IzzyCohen
    by/with the skin of my teeth.

    This idiom is in the bible at Job 19:20: וָא�
    תְמַלְּטָה, בְּעוֹר שִׁנָּי = and I escaped by the skin of my teeth.

    It means “barely, hardly, with difficulty” because B'3or SHinai (using 3 for the letter aiyin) is a near transliteration of the Hebrew word בְּקוֹשִׁי B'QoSHi at a time when the aiyin had a velar G/K sound. I do not know if this was an existing idiom that Job used or if his words were misunderstood during oral transmission before being written by a later scribe. 
    LikeReply7 months ago

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"by the skin of one's teeth." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/by-the-skin-of-ones-teeth_2729>.

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