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narrowly succeed

[ˈnærəuli səkˈsiːd]
verb phrase
conseguir por pouco
1. to achieve success or accomplish a goal by a very small margin; to barely manage to succeed
The team narrowly succeeded in winning the championship by just one point.
O time conseguiu por pouco vencer o campeonato com apenas um ponto de diferença.
2. to pass a test, exam, or challenge with minimal achievement
She narrowly succeeded in passing the difficult exam.
Ela conseguiu por pouco passar no exame difícil.
NYC Slang
barely make it
Synonyms
barely succeedjust manage to succeedsucceed by a narrow marginscrape throughsqueeze by
Antonyms
fail decisivelylose by a large margindecisively succeedtriumph easily

Regional Variations

General Brazilian
conseguir por pouco
Most common expression in Brazilian Portuguese
São Paulo
passar por um fio
Colloquial expression meaning 'to pass by a thread'
Portugal
conseguir de forma justa
Standard Portuguese usage
Rio de Janeiro
passar apertado
Informal colloquial variant

Related Idioms & Phrases

by the skin of one's teeth
by a whisker
by a hair's breadth
squeeze by
scrape through
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