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by the skin of one's teeth
Slang Dictionary

skin definition


  1. n.
    a dollar bill. : This ticket cost me a couple of skins—and it's not worth it. , You got a skin for the tollbooth?
  2. n.
    and skinhead. someone with a shaved or bald head. (Some such persons may also engage in political violence.) : Who's the skinhead with the earrings?
  3. tv.
    to cheat or overcharge someone. : The guy who sold me this car really skinned me.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

by the skin of one's teeth

Just barely, very narrowly, as in Doug passed the exam by the skin of his teeth. A related term appears in the Bible (Job 19:20), where Job says, "I am escaped with the skin of my teeth," presumably meaning he got away with nothing at all. Today the phrase using by is used most often to describe a narrow escape. [c. 1600] Also see squeak through.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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