How to Use nail-biter in a Sentence
nail-biter
noun-
Each was a nail-biter that kept viewers on the edge of their seats.
—Clayton Davis, Variety, 30 Jan. 2025
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The Texans lost a nail-biter against the Packers 24-22.
—Shafaq Patel, Axios, 21 Oct. 2024
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This year is shaping up to be a nail-biter for Ukraine.
—Astha Rajvanshi, NBC News, 1 Jan. 2025
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What was once a three-games-to-one rout has become a three-games-to-two nail-biter.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2023
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Once Dublin heated up, the game turned into a nail-biter.
—Darren Sabedra, The Mercury News, 20 Jan. 2024
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The Supreme Court chose the winner of the 2000 election, which came down to a nail-biter in Florida.
—Lavanya Ramanathan, Vox, 29 Oct. 2024
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The Rays pulled out a tight one after dropping 1-0 and 2-1 nail-biters, and dodged their first sweep of the season.
—Andrew Seligman, BostonGlobe.com, 31 May 2023
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What began as a blowout — KU led by 22 in the second half — turned into a nail-biter late.
—Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024
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That the game turned into a nail-biter in the final five minutes shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
—Mike Cook, Twin Cities, 15 Jan. 2024
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Their lone defeat came in a Week 3 nail-biter to Columbine when the Rebels hit the game-winning field goal with 12 seconds left.
—Matt Schubert, The Denver Post, 6 Nov. 2024
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The outcomes ranged from nail-biters to decisive blowouts.
—Giovanni Malloy, Forbes, 8 Dec. 2024
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But her 2024 election to the Senate was, if possible, even more of a nail-biter.
—Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 5 Mar. 2025
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Held in Rod Laver Arena, the final was a nail-biter, but in the third set, Keys hit a forehand winner that sealed the deal.
—Caroline Tien, SELF, 29 Jan. 2025
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At a time when the GOP’s statewide electoral prospects in California were not quite so dim, the race was a nail-biter.
—Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Washington Post, 22 July 2024
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Taylor appeared nervous in her suite during the nail-biter of a game.
—Marina Watts, People.com, 27 Jan. 2025
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The game that ended 71-69 was a nail-biter with a one-point margin until the final seconds.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 6 Apr. 2024
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And, of course, the United States is headed for another nail-biter of an election in 2024.
—TIME, 18 Mar. 2024
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The contest was a nail-biter the whole way, with no lead exceeding double digits.
—Ryan Morik, Fox News, 8 Mar. 2025
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His nerves about reaching the falsetto at the end made watching his performance a nail-biter.
—Kimi Robinson, USA TODAY, 9 Apr. 2024
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The regular-season meeting last month was a nail-biter, with the Big Blue coming out on top, 93-91.
—Timothy Dashiell, Baltimore Sun, 26 Feb. 2025
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The regular-season meeting last month was a nail-biter, with the Big Blue coming out on top, 93-91.
—Timothy Dashiell, Baltimore Sun, 26 Feb. 2025
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The Lancers won their first two games before dropping a pair of nail-biters on Friday and Saturday.
—The Arizona Republic, 2 Jan. 2024
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Even the two teams' closest matchups during this tournament haven't been true nail-biters.
—NBC News, 9 Apr. 2024
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Though successful, Odysseus' landing last week was a nail-biter.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 27 Feb. 2024
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The latest is Hulu’s Paradise, which is a real nail-biter from start to finish.
—Dana Feldman, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
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Marcus beat Plano 6-5, but gave up three runs in the top of the seventh inning to turn what looked like a comfortable win into a nail-biter.
—Shawn McFarland, Dallas News, 19 Apr. 2023
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For millions of Americans, spring weather is making this eclipse a nail-biter: Will clouds spoil their view?
—Geoff Brumfiel, NPR, 8 Apr. 2024
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How did Trump manage to hold on and maintain a comfortable margin in a state that has long been an Election Night nail-biter?
—Ron Elving, NPR, 23 Mar. 2024
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Week one was full of nail-biters, including an overtime outing.
—oregonlive, 4 Sep. 2023
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The Chiefs’ nail-biter win overall outpaced other playoff games that took place last weekend.
—Alli Rosenbloom, CNN, 27 Jan. 2024
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'nail-biter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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