(be/hang) in the balance In english explanation

The meaning, explanation, definition and origin of the idiom/phrase "(be/hang) in the balance", English Idiom Dictionary ( also found in Vietnamese )

Mocha Phat

2021-04-19 11:04

Meaning of (be/hang) in the balance

Synonyms:

be touch and go

(be/hang) in the balance British negative Written language verb phrase

Used to describe the condition of uncertainty that something is in.

Mark's relationship with his girlfriend is hanging in the balance after a lot of arguments.

His condition hung in the balance as the fireman carried him out of the burning house.

Other phrases about:

the joker in the pack

Someone or something that tends to be unpredictable

smell a rat

to doubt that something is untrue, unreliable or deceptive

kill or cure

Something that only has one of two different end results: positive or negative

blow hot and cold (about something)

To waver between two opposing opinions about something or someone

(that's a) likely story

To express that you don't believe in something that someone has just said

Grammar and Usage of (be/hang) in the balance

Verb Forms

Hanging in the Balance
hung in the balance
was/were in the balance

The verb "be" and "hang" should be conjugated according to its tense.

Origin of (be/hang) in the balance

The balance is an old weight-measurement system which has pans on each of the two ends. weighed object is put in one pan and the weights are added one by one to the other pan. At some point, the two pans will be balanced. Destiny and the result is considered as the uncertain weights. The idiom was created and used by John Lydgate since the Fall of Princes (1430).