shī
zhī
jiāo

idiom
common

Meaning of 失之交臂

失之交臂 means to miss by a hair's breadth; to just miss meeting someone or something; to let a good opportunity slip through one's fingers. Pronounced shī zhī jiāo bì.

  • to miss by a hair's breadth; to just miss meeting someone or something; to let a good opportunity slip through one's fingers

Definitions & Examples

huì
nán
 
què
shī
zhī
jiāo
 
zhì
jīn
ào
huǐ
 

That opportunity was extremely rare, but I let it slip through my fingers, and I still regret it deeply.

men
céng
zài
huǒ
chē
zhàn
shī
zhī
jiāo
 
méi
néng
jiàn
shàng
zuì
hòu
miàn
 

They just missed each other at the train station and were unable to meet for the last time.

huì
nán
 
xìng
shī
zhī
jiāo
 

Such opportunities are hard to come by; I hope you will not let this one slip away.

zhè
fèn
xiǎng
de
gōng
zuò
shī
zhī
jiāo
 
zhǐ
yīn
chí
dào
le
fēn
zhōng
 

I missed out on this ideal job by a hair's breadth, simply because I was five minutes late.