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.
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[hang-chou; Chinese hahng-joh] /ˈhæŋˈtʃaʊ; Chinese ˈhɑŋˈdʒoʊ/ noun 1. Older Spelling. . noun 1. a variant transliteration of the Chinese name for Hangzhou
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noun 1. . noun 1. a bay of the East China Sea.
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[hang-dawg, -dog] /ˈhæŋˌdɔg, -ˌdɒg/ adjective 1. browbeaten; defeated; intimidated; abject: He always went about with a hangdog look. 2. shamefaced; guilty: He sneaked out of the room with a hangdog expression. 3. suitable to a degraded or contemptible person; sneaky; furtive. noun 4. Archaic. a degraded, contemptible person. /ˈhæŋˌdɒɡ/ adjective 1. downcast, furtive, or guilty […]
- Hang-dog
[hang-dawg, -dog] /ˈhæŋˌdɔg, -ˌdɒg/ adjective 1. browbeaten; defeated; intimidated; abject: He always went about with a hangdog look. 2. shamefaced; guilty: He sneaked out of the room with a hangdog expression. 3. suitable to a degraded or contemptible person; sneaky; furtive. noun 4. Archaic. a degraded, contemptible person. /ˈhæŋˌdɒɡ/ adjective 1. downcast, furtive, or guilty […]
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noun The penis; prick: like the horse’s hang-down that I am, get myself shit-faced (1970s+)