brink
/brɪŋk
/noun
1The extreme edge of land before a steep slope or a body or water: the brink of the cliffs at the brink of the pond I hesitated...
- She stood on the brink of a waterfall, the icy cold river rushed about her waist.
- I am now finding myself on a deserted beach on the brink of a saline washout.
- The young brave soon found he was on the brink of a cliff hanging high over a wide river.
Synonyms
edge, verge, margin, rim, lip;
extremity, border, boundary, fringe;
perimeter, circumference, periphery;
limit, limits, bound, bounds
literary marge, bourn, skirt
1.1A point at which something, typically something unwelcome, is about to happen; the verge: the country was on the brink of a constitutional crisis the club has come close to the brink, surviving winding-up orders...
- Yes, this is on the brink of a crisis.
- Indeed, to judge by the level of public awareness, you'd scarcely know we were on the brink of an energy crisis.
- I fear that the world is on the brink of a chronic shortage.
Synonyms
verge, edge, threshold, point, dawn;
starting point, start
Origin
Middle English: of Scandinavian origin.
Rhymes
- supravision
- supravisor
- supravital
- supremacism
- supremacist
- supremacy
- Supremacy, Act of
- suprematism
- suprematist
- supreme
- supreme bench
- supreme court
- Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
- supreme good
- supremely
- supremeness
- supreme pontiff
- supreme sacrifice
- Supreme Soviet
- supremism
- supremist
- supremity
- supremo
- supremum
- suprême