verge

¹ American  

[vurj] / vɜrdʒ /

noun

• verges
  plural

1. the edge, rim, or margin of something.

   the verge of a desert; to operate on the verge of fraud.

   Synonyms:

   brink, lip, brim

2. the limit or point beyond which something begins or occurs; brink.

   on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

3. a limiting belt, strip, or border of something.

4. British. a narrow strip of turf bordering on a pathway, sidewalk, roadway, etc.

5. a decorative border, as on or around an object, structural part, etc.

6. limited room or scope for something.

   an action within the verge of one's abilities.

7. an area or district subject to a particular jurisdiction.

8. History/Historical. an area or district in England embracing the royal palace, being the jurisdiction of the Marshalsea Court.

9. the part of a sloping roof that projects beyond the gable wall.

10. Architecture. the shaft of a column or colonette.

11. a rod, wand, or staff, especially one carried as an emblem of authority or of the office of a bishop, dean, or the like.

12. Horology. a palletlike lever formerly used in inexpensive pendulum clocks.

13. Obsolete. a stick or wand held in the hand of a person swearing fealty to a feudal lord on being admitted as a tenant.

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verb (used without object)

verged, verging

1. to be on the edge or margin; border.

   Our property verges on theirs.

2. to come close to or be in transition to some state, quality, etc. (usually followed byon ).

   a statesman who verged on greatness; a situation that verged on disaster.

verb (used with object)

verged, verging

1. to serve as the verge or boundary of.

   a high hedge verging the yard.

verge ² American  

[vurj] / vɜrdʒ /

verb (used without object)

verged, verging

1. to incline; tend (usually followed by to ortoward ).

   The economy verges toward inflation.

2. to slope or sink.

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verge ¹ British  

/ vɜːdʒ /

noun

1. an edge or rim; margin

2. a limit beyond which something occurs; brink

   on the verge of ecstasy

3. a grass border along a road

4. an enclosing line, belt, or strip

5. architect the edge of the roof tiles projecting over a gable

6. architect the shaft of a classical column

7. an enclosed space

8. horology the spindle of a balance wheel in a vertical escapement, found only in very early clocks

9. English legal history

   1. the area encompassing the royal court that is subject to the jurisdiction of the Lord High Steward

   2. a rod or wand carried as a symbol of office or emblem of authority, as in the Church

   3. a rod held by a person swearing fealty to his lord on becoming a tenant, esp of copyhold land

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verb

1. to be near (to)

   to verge on chaos

2. to serve as the edge of (something)

   this narrow strip verges the road

verge ² British  

/ vɜːdʒ /

verb

1. (intr; foll by to or towards) to move or incline in a certain direction

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verge Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing verge

• on the verge of

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• verges
  plural

Etymology

Origin of verge¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English virge, verge “shaft, column, rod (hence boundary or jurisdiction symbolized by a steward's rod), rod of office, penis,” from Middle French, from Latin virga “shoot, twig, branch, rod”

Origin of verge²

First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin vergere “to turn, bend, be inclined”

Explanation

Think of an edge, a border, a boundary, and you are thinking about the verge, the point where something begins or ends. We talk about a nervous person being on the verge of a breakdown, or about a scientist being on the verge of a major breakthrough, but the British have another good physical meaning: they call the strip of grass that borders a walkway the verge, giving you a clear mental picture that goes beyond the abstract.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

verge verges verged verging

Now it seems as if one of pop’s hottest acts is on the verge of implosion.

From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026

U.S. stock-index futures were little changed on Sunday, as it appeared the U.S. was on the verge of an all-out trade war with Canada, one of its biggest trade partners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

But those objections weren’t enough, and “we all feared that the Planning Department was on the verge of possibly approving the process ministerially.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

"We're talking about one or two kilometres, and we're on the verge of achieving it," Yernaux told AFP, despite "sustained winds" blowing towards the German border.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

Ayanna was on the verge of tears, and, seeing the brand flies pressing against Nyame’s forehead, I could understand why.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

The film is such a Christmas perennial it verges on the liturgical, and why not?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026

Lower land costs and an expectation of a lesser or in fact no need for Buckinghamshire-style tunnels and verges would mean a much lower cost per mile of track.

From BBC ● May 19, 2026

Releasing a film like “Michael” into that universe isn’t bold; it verges on idiotic.

From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2026

Villagers, however, have warned about the danger to runners, horse riders and farmers who cut the long grass on the verges for hay.

From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026

Spearpoints shone in the light of the rising sun, and all along die verges the grass glistened with the morning frost.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

The result in Beijing verged at times towards collective paranoia.

From Barron's ● May 15, 2026

A questionable outlet, the company obtained the results through a methodology so shady it verged on outright dishonesty: They used a definition of “tradwife” that bears no resemblance to the term’s actual meaning.

From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2026

More goals are being scored, but the amount of pushing and pulling has at times verged on the farcical.

From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026

On social media, the schadenfreude has verged on gleeful, with the public picking up on even the smallest references to confirm their priors and their thirst for justice is palpable.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026

Ophelia thought that Paul’s personality was built of oppositions—a need for frenzied activity that verged, she thought, on desperation, and a towering self-confidence oddly combined with a hunger for affirmation.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

The re-created history, which is where many historical documentaries fail, looks good, and the scenes the writers conjure up are well done, if verging sometimes on melodrama.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

Former scrum-half Matt Dawson described England's discipline as "verging on comical" after their number of yellow cards for the year reached 14 in the chaotic 31-24 controversial win over Argentina.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

A consistent message emerged: Los Angeles was not a beautiful, vibrant metropolis with serious problems, but a hellhole verging on being lost for good.

From Slate ● Jun. 9, 2026

A plant that was once romantic is now, some fear, verging on the apocalyptic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025

“She’s off Snapchat and Insta. I’m verging on hostile, so I thought I’d call and see what you know.”

From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart

Related Words

• brink
• edge
• fringe
• threshold