precipice

[ pres-uh-pis ]

noun

1. a cliff with a vertical, nearly vertical, or overhanging face.
2. a situation of great peril:

   on the precipice of war.

precipice

/ ˈprɛsɪpɪs /

noun

1. 1. the steep sheer face of a cliff or crag
   2. the cliff or crag itself
2. a precarious situation

Derived Forms

• ˈprecipiced, adjective

Other Words From

• preci·piced adjective
• un·preci·piced adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of precipice¹

1590–1600; < Middle French < Latin praecipitium steep place, equivalent to praecipit- (stem of praeceps ) steep, headlong ( prae- pre- + -cipit-, combining form of caput head; caput ) + -ium -ium

Word History and Origins

Origin of precipice¹

C16: from Latin praecipitium steep place, from praeceps headlong

Example Sentences

Rope for lowering packs from precarious precipices and for hoisting bear bags.

From Popular-Science

By the fall of 2014, Darkside had reached the precipice of whatever passes for contemporary mainstream success.

From Washington Post

Electron-capture supernovas result from stars that sit right on the precipice of exploding.

From Science News

There’s a precipice where ads in VR almost feel like we’re headed toward Ready Player One territory, so it’s a trend worth watching.

From Search Engine Land

From the top of the bridge, looking over the precipice to the creek below inspired terror, but seen safely from below, he wrote, the arch “is delightful in an equal extreme.”

From Washington Post

They are always suspended over a precipice, dangling by a slender thread that shows every sign of snapping.

From The Daily Beast

When Brecht penned these lines, his continent hovered on the precipice of a journey into hell.

From The Daily Beast

We always seem to be on the precipice of falling back into recession.

From The Daily Beast

Here we stand, on the precipice of another glorious summer—but what will it hold?

From The Daily Beast

There was a sense of standing together on the precipice, but holding each other aloft by sheer will, conjoined by rage.

From The Daily Beast

Louis had no sooner reached the window, than he would have thrown himself from the flinty butments upon the top of the precipice.

From Project Gutenberg

His impetuosity called forth the expression, “He is a fanatic who will lead us to a precipice.”

From Project Gutenberg

Matt went down, with the motor-cycle on top of him, head and shoulders over the brink of the precipice.

From Project Gutenberg

In this way they may drive in a cut having the length of a hundred feet or more from the face of the precipice.

From Project Gutenberg

When Queeker came to try it he felt uneasy—sitting as he did so high, and looking down such a precipice as it seemed to him.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bluff
• cliff
• crag