hang by a thread

English

Alternative forms

• hang on by a thread

Etymology

An allusion to the anecdotalsword of Damocles,which was suspended by a hair.

Pronunciation

• Audio(General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

hangby athread(third-person singular simple presenthangs by a thread,present participlehanging by a thread,simple past and past participlehung by a thread)

1. (idiomatic)To be indanger,calling forprecisecaution;to be in aprecarioussituation.

   Synonym:hang by a hair

   • 2017June 2, Nicola Davis, “Giant Antarctic iceberg 'hanging by a thread', say scientists”, inThe Guardian‎^[1],→ISSN:

     A giant section of an Antarctic ice shelf ishanging by a threadand could break off at any moment, researchers have revealed.

   • 2019January 14, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: SCP-2935 - O, Death” (0:07 from the start), inThe Exploring Series‎^[2],archived fromthe originalon25 March 2023:

     Life in the SCP universe continuallyhangs by a thread,threatened constantly by the existence of a number of dangerous and apocalyptic anomalies. These threats are countered and contained by the existence of organizations such as the SCP Foundation or the Global Occult Coalition.

   • 2022January 28,Em Beihold,Nick Lopez,Dru DeCaro,“Numb Little Bug”,inEgg in the Backseat‎^[3],performed by Em Beihold:

     Do you ever get a little bit tired of life / Like you're not really happy, but you don't wanna die / Like you'rehanging by a thread,but you gotta survive / 'Cause you gotta survive

Translations

to be in a precarious situation

• Catalan:aguantar-se per un fil,venir d'un fil
• Chinese:

  Cantonese:Nguy ngập nguy cơ(kap¹kap¹ho²ngai⁴),Mệnh treo tơ mỏng／Mệnh treo tơ mỏng(ming⁶jyun⁴jat¹sin³),Nguy ở sớm tối(ngai⁴zoi⁶daan³zik⁶),Nghìn cân treo sợi tóc／Nghìn cân treo sợi tóc(cin¹gwan¹jat¹faat³)

  Mandarin:Nguy ngập nguy cơ(zh)(jí jí kě wēi),Mệnh treo tơ mỏng／Mệnh treo tơ mỏng(mìng xuán yī xiàn),Nguy ở sớm tối(zh)(wēi zài dàn xī),Nghìn cân treo sợi tóc／Nghìn cân treo sợi tóc(zh)(qiān jūn yī fà)

• Finnish:olla hiuskarvan varassa
• French:ne tenir qu’à un fil(fr)
• German:an einem seidenen Faden hängen(de)
• Italian:essere appeso a un filo
• Latvian:karāties mata galā
• Macedonian:ви́си на вла́кно(vísi na vlákno),ви́си на ко́нец(vísi na kónec)
• Polish:wisieć na włosku
• Russian:висе́ть на волоске(visétʹ na voloske)
• Spanish:pender de un hilo(es)
• Thai:แขวนบนเส้นด้าย(kwăen bon sâynádâai)