hang by a thread hair

Newsom’s $6.4 billion homelessness gambit hangs by a thread

hang by a thread
[hang by a thread]
definition
be in a highly precarious state:
"their lives were hanging by a thread"
Similar:
uncertain
insecure
unreliable
unsure
unpredictable
undependable
risky
hazardous

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Hanging by a thread is an idiom that means being in a very dangerous or uncertain situation where a slight change can lead to a bad outcome like death or failure. It can also be used literally to describe something that is attached only by a single thread or strand of material.

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hang by a thread
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Related to hang by a thread: hang onto, Hanging in the air
hang by a thread
1. Literally, to be attached only by single thread or strand or material.
If that button is only hanging by a thread, you're bound to lose it during the course of the day.
2. To be perilously close to failing, dying, or resulting in a bad outcome.
After the loss, their chances of getting into the championships are hanging by a thread.
Her life hung by a thread as medics rushed her to the hospital.
See also: by, hang, thread
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
hang by a thread
Also, hang by a hair. Be in a risky or unstable situation, as in His promotion was hanging by a thread, or With the lead actor sick, the success of our play hung by a hair. This expression, already proverbial in the early 1500s, alludes to Damocles, who vexed King Dionysius with constant flattery. The king invited him to a banquet where Damocles found himself seated under a naked sword suspended by a single hair, symbolizing his insecure position at the court.
See also: by, hang, thread
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
hang by a thread
1. If something hangs by a thread, it is very likely to fail, although it has not failed yet. It's clear that the ceasefire is hanging by a thread. England's World Cup hopes hang by a thread and they must now rely on the results of the others in their group going their way.
2. If someone's life hangs by a thread, they are seriously ill and are very likely to die. His kidneys had failed and his life was hanging by a thread. Note: This expression may relate to the story of the Sword of Damocles: see the explanation at `sword'.
See also: by, hang, thread
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
hang by a thread be in a highly precarious state.
See also: by, hang, thread
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
hang by a ;thread/;hair be in a very uncertain situation: After the operation, his life hung by a thread for several hours. ; The future of this company hangs by a thread. Unless we get two or three big orders by the end of the month, we’re finished.
See also: by, hair, hang, thread
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
hang by a thread, to
To be in a precarious situation. This expression comes from the story of Damocles, a servile courtier to Dionysius I of Syracuse. Tired of hearing Damocles praise him to the skies, Dionysius invited him to a magnificent banquet. Seated there, Damocles looked up and saw a naked sword suspended over his head by a single hair, whereby the king intended to show his servant the insecurity of his position. By the sixteenth century the story had been converted into a proverb, “It hangs by a hair,” listed in Erasmus’s Adagia (1523), and in the course of time hair was changed to thread.
See also: by, hang, to
The Dictionary of Clich;s by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
See also:
hang by a thread, to
hang by a thread/hair
hang from a thread
eye of the needle
the eye of a needle
thread
loose thread
thread the needle
thread and thrum
like threading a needle


The Constitution of the United States is said to "hang by a thread" in the oral tradition of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This statement is attributed to Joseph Smith. The Church's fifth presiding bishop, Charles W. Nibley, also made a similar statement in 1922, stating that "the day would come when there would be so much of disorder, of secret combinations taking the law into their own hands, tramping upon Constitutional rights and the liberties of the people, that the Constitution would hang as by a thread".