By The Skin Of Your Teeth (Meaning & Origin!)

To do something “by the skin of your teeth” means to do it by a very narrow margin—to only just achieve it. You came very close to failing but you managed to “snatch victory from the jaws of defeat”. You succeeded just barely and may well not have done so at all.

It’s an extremely common expression in English-speaking slang, most commonly used in Britain but also heard and understood throughout the English speaking world.

It’s an ancient expression, though, that has an extremely long history stretching further back than you might imagine.

Let’s find out more.

What does “by the skin of your teeth” mean?

If you achieve something “by the skin of your teeth”, it means that you just barely succeeded in doing it.

There was a very narrow margin for success and you managed to just about clinch it.

You could very well have failed in whatever it was you were trying to do, but you managed to avoid failure by a tiny margin.

“You’ve passed your exam, by the skin of your teeth,” for example.

Exams are perhaps one of the best examples for this expression.

It could be a way of admonishing a student for only doing the bare minimum to pass, and trying to emphasize they could well have failed on any other day.

There are varying degrees to which this expression might be employed.

On the one hand it could be something of minor importance and not of much consequence.

“I got on the bus, but only by the skin of my teeth,” for example.

It could also relate to something higher stakes, such as exams like I mentioned—but which are still not representative of mortal danger, for example.

On the other hand, though, you might even use the phrase in such situations of extreme peril.

“I was climbing the mountain and my hooks came loose. I managed to hang on by the skin of my teeth,” for example.

There’s no limit to where this phrase could be used, and even though most don’t really understand the literal sense of the expression, somehow it is intrinsically understandable even beyond knowing the meaning from context.

Understanding where this expression comes from is extremely interesting and illuminates the topic very greatly.

Where does “by the skin of your teeth” come from?

I mentioned that this expression was an ancient one, and I was not exaggerating.

It is found not only in the Bible, but in the Old Testament’s Book of Job.

In verse 20, chapter 19, Job says that he has been left so sick from the trials God has put him through that “my bone clings to my skin and my flesh, and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth”.

In the Book of Job, Job is subjected to trials as a sort of test of his faith.

Though it’s commonly thought that this is a test between God and the Devil, it is more God’s own council of divine beings.

In any case, the point is that Job is put through immense pain and suffering, and yet his faith in God does not waver.

By the skin of his teeth is by the tiniest margin, since your teeth do not have skin.

Of course, we must wrestle with the question of translations, here.

The Book of Job was not originally written in English, naturally.

Nonetheless, English translations of the Bible are some of the most authoritative in the world, however we might measure that.

Scholars tend to agree, at least, that many English translations are the most faithful to the “original” texts we have.

Our oldest Biblical manuscripts date back to around the 9^th Century, so even at a very conservative estimate, the expression is still extremely old.

Is “by the skin of your teeth” the same as “no skin off my nose”?

It’s worth clearing up any possible confusion with another idiomatic expression, which goes either “no skin off my nose” or sometimes, more rarely, “no skin off my teeth”.

But the expressions really mean something quite separate.

To say that something is “no skin off my teeth/nose” means simply that something is of no consequence to you, and so you don’t really mind if it happens.

“It’s no skin off my nose if you want to go ahead with it,” for example.

The expression also implies that it may be of no consequence to you, but that it could be to the other person.

This, as you can see, is entirely separate from the phrase “by the skin of your teeth”.

Is “by the skin of your teeth” a metaphor?

By the skin of your teeth is certainly a metaphor.

Your teeth do not have skin, at least not in the sense we would understand it.

There is a very thin, skin-like film over your teeth which is of course entirely imperceptible.

But the phrase is a metaphorical reference to the “skin” on your teeth because it is virtually non-existent and thus implies a very narrow margin.

Biblical in origin but quintessentially British in use today, “by the skin of your teeth” is a fascinating expression.

Its meaning is fairly simple but it has such broad application that it’s one of those expressions you still hear used quite a lot.

It’s extremely old and yet it has largely gone unchanged in all that time, however well we can trust English translations of the Bible, at least.

More in Phrase Meanings

• As Thick As Thieves
• As Thick As Two Short Planks
• Bigger Fish To Fry
• Bob’s Your Uncle
• By The Skin Of Your Teeth
• Dressed To The Nines
• The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword