brink

[bringk]

noun

1. the edge or margin of a steep place or of land bordering water.

2. any extreme edge; verge.

3. a crucial or critical point, especially of a situation or state beyond which success or catastrophe occurs.

   We were on the brink of war.

brink

/ brɪŋk /

noun

1. the edge, border, or verge of a steep place

   the brink of the precipice

2. the highest point; top

   the sun fell below the brink of the hill

3. the land at the edge of a body of water

4. the verge of an event or state

   the brink of disaster

Other Word Forms

• brinkless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of brink¹

1250–1300; Middle English brink < Old Norse ( Danish ) brink, cognate with MLG brink edge, hillside, Old Norse brekka slope, hill

Word History and Origins

Origin of brink¹

C13: from Middle Dutch brinc , of Germanic origin; compare Old Norse brekka slope, Middle Low German brink edge of a field

Example Sentences

"The situation in Pokrovsk is on the brink of crisis and continues to deteriorate, to the point where it may be too late to fix everything," the group concluded.

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A Dodgers team that has been called baseball’s Brinks Truck is suddenly on the brink.

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But this particular situation stretches one’s credulity to the brink.

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Eight months on from Ashes humiliation, England are on the brink of a remarkable turnaround.

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UK regional airline Eastern Airways is on the brink of collapse, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.

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Related Words

• fringe 
• periphery 
• threshold 
• verge