to win by a short head
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Only just to out- distance one's competitors, to win with practically nothing to spare. The phrase is from horse-racing.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to win by a short head” mean?
Only just to out- distance one's competitors, to win with practically nothing to spare. The phrase is from horse-racing.
Is “to win by a short head” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.