{
  "id": "on-a-shoestring.margin",
  "term": "on a shoestring",
  "sense": "margin",
  "pos": "adjective",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 16,
  "arena": "resource-constrained projects",
  "domain": "everyday phrase",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "The space between the current state and the wall where a thing ends has nearly vanished, because maintenance has been reduced to the minimum that keeps it inside the window, leaving no buffer for drift or surprise.",
  "folk_gloss": "operating with very little money or resources",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "window.range",
      "wall.range-end",
      "maintenance.upkeep",
      "drift.aimless",
      "margin.spatial"
    ],
    "interaction": "none",
    "novel_properties": [
      "margin eaten by optimization"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "text": "The Hubble Space Telescope operated for years with degraded gyroscopes, relying on minimal hardware to maintain orientation.",
      "domain": "engineering"
    },
    {
      "text": "Detroit's streetlights remained functional in 2012 only because volunteers maintained a fraction of the grid after city budget cuts.",
      "domain": "institutions"
    },
    {
      "text": "The 2008 LHC startup proceeded with reduced cryogenic safety margins after funding delays forced deferred upgrades.",
      "domain": "physics"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "on a shoestring"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — margin eaten by optimization"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-on-a-shoestring.margin"
}