What is the source of the allusion in the sentence below?
Ivan got off the mountain by the skin of his teeth.
the Bible a movie
An allusion is a brief mention of something or someone well known, often from mythology, history, or literature. An allusion lets you reference ideas from an entire story in just a few words.
"I'd better get home before I turn into a pumpkin!" Lila remarked.
Here, Lila alludes to the fairy tale "Cinderella," in which Cinderella must leave the ball before the coach that brought her transforms into a pumpkin. The allusion shows that Lila must depart immediately.
The source of the allusion by the skin of his teeth is the Bible.
In the Bible, Job complains to God about his hardships, saying that both strangers and those he loves have turned against him. He says, "My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth." Scholars have long debated the exact meaning of the phrase, but many claim that Job is saying that he narrowly escaped death.
The allusion by the skin of his teeth means just barely.