hair's breadthn.
/ˈhɛːz brɛdθ/, /ˈhɛːz brɛtθ/, U.S. /ˈhɛrz ˌbrɛ(d)θ/ a. The breadth of a hair; = hairbreadth n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > [noun] > a short distance > a very short distance
footmealOE
hair-brede14..
hairbreadth1561
hair's breadth1584
micromillimetre1987
1584 R. Scot Discouerie Witchcraft v. v. 100 Limits..beyond the which they cannot passe one haires breadth.
1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. III. 31 There is not a haires breadth of difference betweene them.
1755 T. Smollett tr. M. de Cervantes Don Quixote I. ii. v. 66 I am within a hair's breadth of doubting.
1856 P. E. Dove Logic Christian Faith Introd. § 3. 6 Our faith in the fact is not shaken a hair's-breadth.
b. to a hair's breadth: with minute exactness of measure, to a nicety. Cf. hairbreadth n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > [adverb] > with respect to size or number
by scorec1325
expressc1475
to a hair's breadtha1616
flat1909
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > [adverb] > strictly
strait1338
smally1340
at point devicec1390
point-devicec1425
precisely1526
to the point device1542
just1549
rigorously1561
by the square1570
curiously1573
by point device1575
in print1576
to a tittle1597
nicelya1616
to a hair's breadtha1616
point-vice1641
to a nicka1680
to a cow's thumb1681
to a tee1693
narrowly1708
scrupulously1712
to a dot1728
perjinkly1775
to a nicety1795
astringently1866
to a fit1890
a1616 W. Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor (1623) iv. ii. 3 I professe requitall to a haires bredth.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 36. ⁋2 Lady Autumn knows to an Hair's Breadth where her Place is in all Assemblies and Conversations.
c. (See quots.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > [noun] > a short distance
wurpc950
stepc1000
footc1300
furlong wayc1384
stone-casta1387
straw brede14..
tinec1420
weec1420
field-breadth1535
field-broad1535
pair of butts1545
straw-breadth1577
stone's throw1581
way-bit?1589
space1609
piece1612
littlea1616
spirt1670
a spit and a stride1676
hair's breadth1706
rope's length1777
biscuit throw1796
a whoop and a holler1815
biscuit toss1836
biscuit cast1843
stone-shot1847
pieceway1886
stone-put1896
pitch-and-putt1925
pieceways1932
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of length > [noun] > units of length or distance > inch > one forty-eighth of an inch
hair's breadth1706
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Hair's-breadth, a Measure accounted among the Jews the 48th part of an inch.
1832 J. Lindley Introd. Bot. 400 A hair's breadth..the twelfth part of a line.
d. attributive or as adj. : Extremely narrow or close = hairbreadth n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > [adjective] > short (of distance) > very short distance
hairbreadth1768
hair's breadth1841
1841 G. Catlin Lett. N. Amer. Indians I. x. 72 Our chief conversation was..hair's-breadth escapes.
a1853 F. W. Robertson Serm. (1855) 2nd Ser. iv. 50 To draw some subtle hair's-breadth distinction.
1868 H. H. Milman Ann. St. Paul's Cathedral 120.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1584