a. The male organ; the penis. rare.

b. Zoology. [After modern French use.] The male organ of a mollusc, crustacean, or other invertebrate.

a. A rod or wand carried as an emblem of authority or symbol of office; a staff of office; a warder, †sceptre, mace. †sergeant of the verge, = sergeant n. 7b.

†b. A rod or wand put in a person's hand when taking the oath of fealty to the lord on being admitted as a tenant, and delivered back on the giving up of the tenancy. Also in tenant by the verge. Obsolete.

†a. A chariot-pole. Obsolete. rare.

b. A rod, wand, or stick. rare.

a. The spindle or arbor of the balance in the old vertical escapement.

b. elliptical. A verge watch (see sense 7c).

c. attributive and in other combinations, as verge escapement, verge-file, verge hole, verge-maker, verge-pivot, verge spring, verge watch.

a. A part of a stocking-frame (see quot. 1854).

a. A measure of length or superficies for carpentry work. Obsolete. rare.Apparently only attested in dictionaries or glossaries.

†b. verge of land [translating Old French verge de terre, medieval Latin virga terrae] , = virgate n. Obsolete. rare.

a. within the verge, within an area subject to the jurisdiction of the Lord High Steward, defined as extending to a distance of twelve miles round the King's court. Also with in, and frequently const. of (the court, etc.). Obsolete exc. Historical.The phrase is a rendering of Anglo-Norman dedeinz la verge (in Anglo-Latin infra virgam), in which verge originally referred to the Steward's rod of office (see sense 4a); in early use the full expression verge de noster hostel (Latin virga hospitii nostri) is employed. In the 18th century commonly denoting the precincts of Whitehall as a place of sanctuary.

b. Hence the verge (of the court), employed with other prepositions or in other constructions to designate this area or jurisdiction.

c. Court of (the) Verge: (see quot. 1730).

a. The bounds, limits, or precincts of a particular place. Chiefly after the prepositions within, in, out of.The examples placed under (a) keep closer to the original use (see sense 10) than those under (b).

†b. In plural in the same sense. Obsolete. rare.

a. The range, sphere, or scope of something; all that is naturally included or comprehended under a particular concept, category, etc. Obsolete (common in 17th cent.).

†b. The pale or limit of a class or community.

†c. The power, control, or jurisdiction of a person or persons. Obsolete.

a. The edge, rim, border, or margin of some object of limited size or extent. Now rare.

†b. With a and plural, etc.: a brim or rim; a circle of metal, etc. Obsolete.

†c. Botany. (See quots.) Obsolete.

d. Architecture. (See quots.) Cf. verge-board n.

a. The extreme edge, margin, or bound of a surface of an extensive nature, but regarded as having definite limits. Also occasionally without const.

b. figurative. The end of life.

c. The utmost limit to which a thing or matter extends; the distinctive line of separation between one subject and another.

a. The extreme edge of a cliff or abrupt descent. Used absol. or with of.

b. The margin of a river or the sea. Also without const.

c. poetic. The horizon.

a. With a and plural. A limit or bound; a limiting or bounding belt or strip. Somewhat rare.

b. spec. A narrow grass edging separating a flower border, etc., from a gravel walk. Hence also, an unpaved strip of land, usually planted with grass, separating a pedestrian pavement from a road; a (grass-covered) edging to a road. Cf. grass verge n. at grass n.¹ Compounds 5.

a. The brink or border of something towards which there is progress or tendency (from without); the point at which something begins. Usually in the phrases on or to the verge of.Various types of context are illustrated by the different groups of quotations.

b. With verbal nouns on the verge of, on the very point of (doing something).

a. The space within a boundary; room, scope. Also const. to or for.Chiefly in echoes of quot. 1757.

b. figurative and in figurative context.