the brink
noun
: the edge at the top of a steep cliff
—usually used figuratively to refer to a point that is very close to the occurrence of something very bad or (less commonly) very good
He nearly lost everything because of his drug addiction, but his friends helped to pull him back from the brink.
The two nations are on the brink of war.
Doctors may be on the brink of finding a cure for this disease.
an animal that has been brought/pulled back from the brink of extinction
Examples of the brink in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Delivering More Than Expected: A Recipe For Success Creating a culture of over-delivering doesn’t mean constantly stretching your team to the brink.
—
Dr. Diane Hamilton, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
Perhaps Steichen’s hesitancy to admit that comes, in part, from his owner thinking the team was on the brink of a breakthrough.
—James Boyd, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
Riley first filed for the trademark at the beginning of the 1988-89 season with the Lakers on the brink of a third straight title.
—Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 9 Jan. 2025
Worm’s visualization of his collection, then, is an unwitting elegy of species pushed to the brink of existence by human pressures.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 8 Jan. 2025
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Dr. Diane Hamilton, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
Perhaps Steichen’s hesitancy to admit that comes, in part, from his owner thinking the team was on the brink of a breakthrough.
—James Boyd, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
Riley first filed for the trademark at the beginning of the 1988-89 season with the Lakers on the brink of a third straight title.
—Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 9 Jan. 2025
Worm’s visualization of his collection, then, is an unwitting elegy of species pushed to the brink of existence by human pressures.
—The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 8 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for the brink
Dictionary Entries Near the brink
Cite this Entry
“The brink.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20brink. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
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