Dictionary

hairsbreadth en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈhɛəɹzbɹɛdθ/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From hair + -s- + breadth.

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of hair's breadth: a very short distance or a very small amount (as is the width of a hair).
   alt of hair's breadth
   • [...] I ſee you are obſequious in your loue, and I profeſſe requitall to a haires bredth, [...] c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 54, column 1:
   • [I]t was characteristic of this man, as it is of all men similarly marked, that whatever he did, he overdid, though it were sometimes by only a hair's-breadth [...] 1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, “The Word of a Gentleman”, in Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC, 1st book (Poverty), page 265:
   • We've missed our shot by a hairsbreadth and that's the same as missing by miles. 1919, John Buchan, Mr. Standfast:
   • In Avatar the spectacular rides to the rescue and hairsbreadth escapes have the whole film behind them and because of that are dramatically and emotionally satisfying. 2010 March, Neil McDonald, Quadrant, Quadrant Magazine Limited, volume LIV, number 3 (number 464 overall), page 100

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