as in thrillers
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-biters
Louisville-area football fans saw some blowouts and some nail-biters Friday night.
—
Rich Barak, Louisville Courier Journal, 23 Aug. 2025
The plan looked genius early in the season, when the Giants were winning nail-biters, walking off games with Little League and inside-the-park home runs and Wilmer Flores’ clutch hitting.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2025
Rich Barak, Louisville Courier Journal, 23 Aug. 2025
The plan looked genius early in the season, when the Giants were winning nail-biters, walking off games with Little League and inside-the-park home runs and Wilmer Flores’ clutch hitting.
—Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nail-biters
thrillers
Noun
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Our fears showed up in the movies, too, in Cold War dramas like Sidney Lumet’s 1964 Fail Safe or apocalyptic thrillers like Stanley Kramer’s 1959 On the Beach.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
3 Sep. 2025
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Neon also had two other films — both political thrillers — that were celebrated at Cannes and then proved popular in Telluride, as well.—
Scott Feinberg,
HollywoodReporter,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Nail-biters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nail-biters. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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