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German
Etymology
Pronunciation
Adjective
fingerbreit (strong nominative masculine singular fingerbreiter, not comparable)
- by or of a fingerbreadth/fingersbreadth; finger-wide, (as) wide as a finger
- Synonyms: daumenbreit, zollbreit
- Antonyms: fußbreit, handbreit, spaltbreit
ein fingerbreiter Spalt; fingerbreit auseinanderklaffen- a finger-wide gap; to dehisce/burst open/gape open as wide as a finger
- 1964, Günter Grass: Die Blechtrommel. Roman. 323.–372. Tausend, Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag, page 126:
Translation:
2009, Günter Grass, translation by Breon Mitchell: The Tin Drum. Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, page 142:
Es gelang mir sogar, mit einiger Mühe die Spiegeltüren heranzuziehen und sie mit einem Shawl, den ich im Kastenboden fand, so mit der Anschlagleiste zu verklemmen, daß ein fingerbreiter Spalt notfalls Aussicht und einige Luftzufuhr ermöglichte.- I even managed with some effort to pull the mirrored doors inward and, using the overlapping slat, to jam them with the help of a shawl I found on the cupboard floor in such a way that a finger-wide gap allowed me to see out if necessary and even let in some air.
2003, Herta Müller, Der König verneigt sich und tötet, München/Wien: Carl Hanser Verlag, →ISBN, page 70:In den Schulen wurde jeden Tag die Haarlänge kontrolliert – der Nacken mußte den halben Kopf hinauf kahl sein, die Ohrläppchen fingerbreit frei stehen.- Each day hair length was checked in schools – the nape of the neck had to be shorn halfway up the head, the earlobes had to be hair-free by a fingerbreadth.
2010, Franziska Gehm, Der Tote im Dorfteich (Gulliver; 1160), Weinheim/Basel: Beltz & Gelberg, →ISBN, page 5:Durch den harten Boden zogen sich fingerbreite Risse, die Sonnenblumenfelder waren vertrocknet, der Mais verbrannt.- Cracks as wide as a finger spread through the hard soil, the sunflower fields were dried up, the corn was burned.
Declension
Positive forms of fingerbreit (uncomparable)
See also
Further reading