Daily Almanac for
Nov 19, 2008
Search White Pages
Info search tips
Bio search tips

Hair-breadth

'Scape A very narrow escape from some evil. In measurement the forty-eighth part of an inch is called a “hair-breadth.”

Wherein I spake of most disastrous chances,
Of moving accidents by flood and field,
Of hair-breadth 'scapes i' th' imminent deadly reach.'

Shakespeare: Othello, i. 3.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

More on Hair-breadth from Infoplease:

See a map of "" in the Visual Thesaurus

    • Cite
    • Print
    • Bookmark

Related Content