in the balance

UNCERTAIN, undetermined, unsettled, unresolved, unsure, pending, in limbo, up in the air, at a turning point, critical, at a critical stage, at a crisis.

→ balance

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phrasal or in balance

: in an uncertain critical position : with the fate or outcome about to be determined one way or the other

some human being's right to life hangs in the balance — Lucius Garvin

his … authority and his manly strength hesitating and hanging in the balance — Glenway Wescott

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in the balance

1. Unsettled

2. Undecided

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Main Entry: ↑balance

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uncertain; at a critical stage

his survival hung in the balance for days

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in the balance

◇ If something (such as your future) hangs in the balance or is in the balance, it is not certain but will soon be known or decided.

Our future hangs in the balance as we await their decision. [=our future depends on their decision; their decision will control our future]

With his job in the balance, he went to ask his boss for a raise.

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Main Entry: ↑balance