whisker

be the cat's whiskers (British & Australian)

to be better than everyone else. I thought I was the cat's whiskers in my new dress.

by a whisker

by a very small amount. Last time she raced against the Brazilian she won by a whisker. He missed the goal by a whisker.

come within a whisker of something/doing something

if you come within a whisker of doing something, you almost do it or it almost happens to you. He came within a whisker of beating the world champion. Several times on his trek through the jungle he came within a whisker of death.

See also: come, within

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within a whisker of something

close to something. Yesterday, the price of oil came within a whisker of its all-time high. An asteroid came within a whisker of crashing into the earth.

See also: within