waha o te parata
1. (noun) brink of disaster, path to destruction, jaws of death – a metaphor referring to the near disaster of the Te Arawa canoe caught in a whirlpool in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Takahuri haere atu ana taua tokorua ki tahaki. Heoi rā, ka ora te tangata, ka hoki ake i te waha o te parata (TWM 11/7/1863:4). / That pair rolled over the bank. However, the man survived and returned from the jaws of death.
Synonyms: korokoro o te parata
