border on
phrasal verb
bordered on; bordering on; borders on
1
: to have a border on (something) : to lie on a boundary of (something)
The area my ancestors come from borders on the Atacama Desert.
2
: to be very like (something) : to come very close to being (something)
The play's dialog borders on the ridiculous.
an enthusiasm bordering on fanaticism
Examples of border on in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The body of the snake is medium brown, slightly lighter toward the head, with black borders on the individual scales, photos from the study show.
—
Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 29 Apr. 2024
The first strike was about 100 miles inside Crimea’s border on the morning of April 17, targeting a Russian military airfield, according to the officials.
—Courtney Kube, NBC News, 24 Apr. 2024
Berliner’s essay has brought new scrutiny of its new CEO, Katherine Maher, and her long history of activist statements that border on parody.
—The Editors, National Review, 18 Apr. 2024
Blake is not an emasculated wimp; his confidence is complete, his suavity bordering on the toxic.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 9 Apr. 2024
Its secondary hero is ennobled by a folksy wisdom and probity so unalloyed as to border on the supernatural.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2024
The term is not easily embraced in the mental health world, where hope and optimism are often embedded into the clinical experience, sometimes because of therapeutic confidence, bordering on hubris, that complicates the clinical picture.
—Anand Kumar, STAT, 27 Feb. 2024
That number is way above league average and borders on must-play.
—Jack Magruder, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024
Faith in renewing the PA borders on the delusional.
—Raja Khalidi, Foreign Affairs, 19 Mar. 2024
Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 29 Apr. 2024
The first strike was about 100 miles inside Crimea’s border on the morning of April 17, targeting a Russian military airfield, according to the officials.
—Courtney Kube, NBC News, 24 Apr. 2024
Berliner’s essay has brought new scrutiny of its new CEO, Katherine Maher, and her long history of activist statements that border on parody.
—The Editors, National Review, 18 Apr. 2024
Blake is not an emasculated wimp; his confidence is complete, his suavity bordering on the toxic.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 9 Apr. 2024
Its secondary hero is ennobled by a folksy wisdom and probity so unalloyed as to border on the supernatural.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2024
The term is not easily embraced in the mental health world, where hope and optimism are often embedded into the clinical experience, sometimes because of therapeutic confidence, bordering on hubris, that complicates the clinical picture.
—Anand Kumar, STAT, 27 Feb. 2024
That number is way above league average and borders on must-play.
—Jack Magruder, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024
Faith in renewing the PA borders on the delusional.
—Raja Khalidi, Foreign Affairs, 19 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'border on.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near border on
Cite this Entry
“Border on.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/border%20on. Accessed 3 May. 2024.
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