← Back to Fala2Me

succeed by a narrow margin

[səkˈsiːd baɪ ə ˈnæroʊ ˈmɑrdʒɪn]
verb phrase
vencer/triunfar por uma margem estreita
1. To achieve success or victory with only a small difference or advantage over competitors; to win by a small amount
She succeeded by a narrow margin in the election, winning by just 2% of the vote.
Ela venceu por uma margem estreita na eleição, ganhando com apenas 2% dos votos.
2. To barely accomplish a goal or objective with minimal advantage
The team succeeded by a narrow margin, scoring the winning goal in the last seconds.
O time triunfou por pouco, marcando o gol da vitória nos últimos segundos.
NYC Slang
barely pull it off / squeeze by
Synonyms
win by a hair's breadthwin by a slim marginscrape throughbarely succeedsucceed by the skin of one's teetheke out a victory
Antonyms
fail decisivelylose by a large marginwin by a landslidesucceed overwhelmingly

Regional Variations

General Brazilian
vencer por uma margem estreita
Most common and widely understood across Brazil
São Paulo
ganhar por pouco
More colloquial, commonly used in informal speech
Rio de Janeiro
triunfar por uma margem apertada
Slightly more formal regional variant
Portugal
vencer por uma margem apertada
European Portuguese variant, 'apertada' more common than 'estreita'

Related Idioms & Phrases

by the skin of one's teeth
win by a nose
hang on by one's fingernails
make it by the whiskers
scrape by
Look up more words on Fala2Me
The free English-Portuguese dictionary with real Brazilian accents, NYC slang, conjugator and more
Open Fala2Me →