Barely managing to succeed or survive; achieving something with very little margin for error.
This phrase comes directly from the Book of Job in the Bible (19:20): 'My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.' Since teeth don't actually have skin, the original Hebrew likely referred to the thin membrane around the gums, emphasizing how close Job came to complete destruction.
The anatomical impossibility of teeth having skin makes this phrase particularly vivid - it describes something so close to disaster that you're left with something that doesn't even exist. This biblical metaphor has endured for centuries precisely because it captures that heart-stopping moment of almost-but-not-quite failing.
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