on the edge
Idioms-
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 .
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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.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
HELSINKI—“Yes, we have them upstairs,” the receptionist at a Mercedes-Benz dealership on the edge of this city told me last month, after I asked whether the showroom carried any Chinese electric cars.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 7, 2026
Authorities also found a Converse Chuck Taylor shoe impression on the edge of the roof of the building from which the gunman fired.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 6, 2026
Among the 28 schools he says he he has advised are those belonging to the Westcountry Schools Trust, which runs Ivybridge Community College on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon.
From BBC • Jun. 30, 2026
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove said the lawmaker was unaware that the post office, which was on the edge of her district, had been closed until informed by The Times last week.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2026
I turned around and picked up the garden hose, which was lying coiled on the edge of the patio.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
