危 機 一 髪(ききいっぱつ)

ききいっぱつ

noun, expression

close call; narrow escape; by a hair's breadth

1. close call; narrow escape; critical moment

A dangerous situation where disaster was barely avoided.

We narrowly escaped the accident.

I made the train by a hair's breadth.

I dodged the falling object just in time.

危機(きき) (crisis) + 一髪(いっぱつ) (one hair)
Literal: "crisis of one hair" - the margin was as thin as a single hair

The phrase emphasizes how close the danger was - separated by the width of a single hair.

間一髪(かんいっぱつ) - very close in meaning; 危機一髪(ききいっぱつ) names the crisis, 間一髪(かんいっぱつ) names the margin
九死(きゅうし)に一生(いっしょう) - narrow escape from death, used for far graver danger

Related Words

general

Added 2026.1.18 21:03 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:01

06500/06949_kikiippatsu