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
New York is fresh off their five-game winning streak being snapped, losing a 101-99 nail-biter to the Los Angeles Sparks.
—
Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 July 2025
Locked in a nail-biter with just under two minutes to play, Taylor opted to heave a shot for the end zone.
—Brendan Connelly, Boston Herald, 19 July 2025
Not every movie needs to be a nail-biter, and not every plot needs to be engineered like a Maserati.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 7 July 2025
When the voters were counted, the margin was close, but not exactly a nail-biter.
—David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 4 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for nail-biter
Ben Verbrugge, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 July 2025
Locked in a nail-biter with just under two minutes to play, Taylor opted to heave a shot for the end zone.
—Brendan Connelly, Boston Herald, 19 July 2025
Not every movie needs to be a nail-biter, and not every plot needs to be engineered like a Maserati.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 7 July 2025
When the voters were counted, the margin was close, but not exactly a nail-biter.
—David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 4 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for nail-biter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nail-biter
thriller
Noun
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Its trailer, viewed by tens of thousands on YouTube (65,000 and counting), has only fueled more interest in the sci-fi thriller series, which already picked up an award at Italy’s Global Series Festival last June.—
Anna Marie de la Fuente,
Variety,
16 Aug. 2025
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Here’s a man as comfortable working in documentaries (4 Little Girls), filmed theater (Passing Strange), crime thrillers (Inside Man), and outlandish satire (Bamboozled).—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
16 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nail-biter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nail-biter. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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