as in thriller
something (as a close contest) that induces much suspense as to its outcome
a presidential election that was one of the great nail-biters of all time
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Recent Examples of nail-biter
That bill will have to line up with the House version, which is just one provision of the massive Big Beautiful Bill, which passed in a nail-biter 215-214 vote.
—
Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025
Malonga played for France in 2024 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal after losing a nail-biter game to the U.S.
—Grace Harrington, People.com, 19 May 2025
The University of Miami lost by 1 point against Iowa State in a 42-41 nail-biter.
—Doha Madani, NBC news, 11 May 2025
The movie veers from character study and brother bonding to an action nail-biter.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nail-biter
Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes.com, 24 May 2025
Malonga played for France in 2024 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal after losing a nail-biter game to the U.S.
—Grace Harrington, People.com, 19 May 2025
The University of Miami lost by 1 point against Iowa State in a 42-41 nail-biter.
—Doha Madani, NBC news, 11 May 2025
The movie veers from character study and brother bonding to an action nail-biter.
—Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 26 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for nail-biter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nail-biter
thriller
Noun
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The studio’s live-action division also continues to develop projects including action thriller Seventeen; Crumble, to be written and directed by Brian Duffield, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller producing; and an untitled pic marking the directorial debut of Dune scribe Jon Spaihts.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
6 June 2025
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Remember, the Pacers needed six 3s in about five minutes from Aaron Nesmith in Game 1 against New York just to set up Haliburton’s previous thriller.—
Joe Vardon,
New York Times,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nail-biter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nail-biter. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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