on the edge

Idioms  

1. In a precarious position; also, in a state of keen excitement, as from danger or risk. For example, When the stock market crashed, their whole future was on the edge , or Skydivers obviously must enjoy living on the edge .

2. on the edge of . On the point of doing something, as in He was on the edge of winning the election when the sex scandal broke . [c. 1600] Both def. 1 and 2 allude to the danger of falling over the edge of a precipice.

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Example Sentences

I asked Russell to drop me off on Macy Street, just on the edge of Chinatown near the railyard.

From Literature

He picked up a pen and began to roll it between his fingers, his arm outstretched with his wrist resting on the edge of the desk.

From Literature

Light from a streetlamp beams into my cavelike bedroom and reveals the source of the noise—Aunt Tess, sitting on the edge of my bed, appraising her surroundings.

From Literature

For the last fortnight, as drones and missiles have whistled through the skies above Iran and the Gulf, air traffic controllers have been shepherding passenger jets through safer but congested airspace on the edge of the war.

From BBC

"I saw her on the edge of the bank, she put her foot down and disappeared in the water. I jumped in after her. Then Diaco stripped down to his underpants, jumped in, got his arms around my legs and pushed me up and two blokes pulled me out."

From BBC

Related Words

• insignificant
• minimal
• minor
• negligible