on the verge of

1. Close to, on the brink of, as in I was on the verge of calling the doctor when he suddenly got better, or Sara was on the verge of tears when she heard the news. This term uses verge in the sense of “the brink or border of something.” [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

Tarik Skubal, the Tigers’ ace left-hander who is on the verge of claiming his second consecutive Cy Young Award, delivered a brilliant performance, allowing one run over six dominant innings with 13 punchouts.

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R2-D2, among other functions, automatically scans the vast startup market for companies in Touring’s wheelhouse: AI startups on the verge of raising Series B financing.

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Five hundred miles inland, at the women’s Wuhan Open, conditions are just as challenging, with some players limping through the rounds on the verge of collapse.

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England are on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup and could be certain to progress to the tournament if they win in Latvia on Tuesday, depending on other results in Group K.

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“We decided we’re up for it and we’re going to do something, I would say, on the verge of legality…We hope that the plant is going to come back online sometime soon.”

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Related Words

• about 
• approximately 
• around 
• essentially 
• most 
• much 
• practically 
• relatively 
• roughly 
• virtually