{
  "id": "razor-thin.margin",
  "term": "razor thin",
  "sense": "margin",
  "pos": "adjective",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 15,
  "arena": "optimization",
  "domain": "everyday",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "The range between two walls has narrowed so far that no drift can occur without crossing one, and maintenance can no longer act without risk of breakage.",
  "folk_gloss": "Very small in thickness or amount.",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "margin.spatial",
      "window.range",
      "wall.range-end",
      "drift.aimless",
      "maintenance.upkeep"
    ],
    "interaction": "emergence.novel_properties",
    "novel_properties": [
      "emergent.window"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "text": "In 2023, Taiwan Semiconductor's 3nm chip production faced yield drops when voltage margins narrowed to under 50mV, leaving no room for thermal drift.",
      "domain": "engineering"
    },
    {
      "text": "The 2008 financial collapse followed decades of shrinking capital reserve ratios, until banks held less than 2% against obligations.",
      "domain": "economics"
    },
    {
      "text": "During the 1961 Berlin Crisis, U.S. and Soviet tanks at Checkpoint Charlie were separated by 10 meters, with no room for maneuver without collision.",
      "domain": "institutions"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "razor thin"
  ],
  "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-razor-thin.margin"
}