We caught the last ferry by the skin of our teeth.
by the skin of your teeth
idiomJust barely
Origin
The phrase comes from Job 19:20, where Job, stripped of everything and covered in sores, describes how little of him is left: "My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth."
The image is deliberately strange, because teeth have no skin — that is the point. Job is saying he has escaped with essentially nothing, the barest imaginable sliver of himself intact.
The 1611 King James rendering fixed the odd phrasing in English, and it stuck. To do something by the skin of your teeth is to manage it by the narrowest of margins — to catch a train as the doors close, or pass an exam by a single mark.
He passed the driving test by the skin of his teeth, with the examiner's pen already hovering over "fail".
The company survived the crash by the skin of its teeth, saved by a loan that cleared the day before payroll was due.
Job, Psalms, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes on how to live.
- 01
nothing new under the sun (idiom)
Human affairs endlessly repeat; what seems novel has all happened before.
- 02
the patience of Job (idiom)
Extraordinary endurance and calm in the face of prolonged suffering.
- 03
pride comes before a fall (idiom)
Arrogance and overconfidence tend to precede a downfall.
- 04
a fly in the ointment (idiom)
A small flaw or problem that spoils something otherwise good.
- 05
my cup runneth over (idiom)
A feeling of having blessings or good fortune in overwhelming abundance.
- 06
the valley of the shadow of death (idiom)
A time or place of extreme danger, fear, or hardship.