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

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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”

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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

And now the tech bubble — not the money one but the cultural one — is on the verge of getting the populist “pop,” too.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

It's incredible - 20 years old and he's on the verge of winning his first championship, which I'm sure will be the first of many.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026

A surprisingly strong U.S. economy sustained its vigor on the verge of the holiday shopping season, a pair of S&P surveys showed, as businesses hired more workers to keep up with rising customer demand.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026

That now seems on the verge of changing forever.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026

Even through his misty ghoul disguise, Annabeth could tell he was on the verge of panic.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

We like a very early dinner that verges on being a very late lunch.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

He also has a tendency to get starry-eyed around big-name pitchers; his awe of Mr. Skubal verges on sycophantic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Standing outdoors in all weathers, he painted hundreds of scenes of lush meadows and roadside verges.

From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026

"The verges between the lay-bys were strewn with litter, the lay-bys themselves were in a mess," he added.

From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026

What worried him was that where it did so there were only very narrow verges of short grass, offering no cover.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams

Belgium’s outrage ahead of its match against the Americans verged on disbelief.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

But did he realise that these stunts verged on self-parody?

From BBC ● May 30, 2026

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

He sputtered, a sound that verged on laughter, and tipped his head back, gazing at the faded gray sky.

From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez

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

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

We are drawn by the painting’s rich orchestration of warm and cool browns—from sludgy tan to super-charged ocher verging on sienna—and its seductive textures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

"Within three hours flying time of the Gulf, you have the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, verging on China. It's a huge market," explains James Hogan, a former chief executive of Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways.

From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026

McCandless viewed running as an intensely spiritual exercise, verging on religion.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

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Related Words

• brink
• edge
• fringe
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