- Idiom – By the skin of your teeth
- Meaning – To only just succeed in doing something. To just barely do something; to succeed by the smallest of margin.
- Teeth – of course – don’t actually have skin, so if you achieve something by the skin of your teeth you achieve it by the tiniest of margins.
Usage:
When could you use this idiom?
- If a football team narrowly wins a match.
- A student passes an exam by a very small margin.
- Someone only just catches a train or plane.
- A person just about manages to avoid danger.
Example:
- “Real Madrid had a terrible second half but they managed to hold on to a victory by the skin of their teeth!”
In The News:
Intense footage shows how rally driver is saved by the skin of his teeth!
Discuss:
- Is there an idiom like this in your country?
What is an idiom?
An idiom is a word or phrase that is not taken literally. An idiom is an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its individual words, but has a separate meaning of its own.