brink

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments  · 
“
Near the brink was a thicket of box in which a trunk lay prostrate; this had been once or twice their trysting-place, though it was by no means a safe one; and it was here she sat awaiting him now.

View all »
Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun The upper edge of a steep or vertical slope: the brink of a cliff.
  2. noun The margin of land bordering a body of water.
  3. noun The point at which something is likely to begin; the verge: "Time and again the monarchs and statesmen of Europe approached the brink of conflict” (W. Bruce Lincoln). See Synonyms at border.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (3)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • With many other fisheries teetering on the brink, these new insights could prove vital. —  New Scientist - Earth
  • In other cases, borrowers who appear to be pushed to the brink are being offered deals that forgive 20 to 70 percent of credit card debt. —  Reflector - Latest Headlines from The Daily Reflector
  • Beyond the brink was a swirl of broken water--a spent breaker, crashing in, streaked with irresistible current and flecked with hissing fragments Adjectives which connote noise are unavoidable. —  Harbor Tales Down North With an Appreciation by Wilfred T. Grenfell, M.D.
  • Fred Davis quickly leaped to the brink, and wildly shouted Frank Merriwell! —  Frank Merriwell's Chums
  • Beyond the cataclysm's brink, the multitude, too dazed to think, Behold the red waves rise and--sink into the smoldering gloom V The fire has swept the waterfront and burned the Mission down, The business section--swallowed up, and wiped out Chinatown-- Full thirty thousand homes destroyed, Nob Hill in ashes lies, And ghastly skeletons of steel on Market Street arise. —  Poems Teachers Ask For, Book Two
More examples »
 

Tags

brink hasn't been tagged yet.

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 124 times.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

verge ·  rim ·  abyss ·  throes ·  midst ·  edge ·  eve ·  precipice ·  margin ·  depth ·  extremity ·  summit
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, probably of Scandinavian origin .

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English brink, brenk, edge, of Low German or Scandinavian origin: Middle Low German Low German brink, brink, margin, edge, edge of a hill, a hill, = German dial. brink, a sward, a grassy hill, = Danish brink, edge, verge, = Swedish brink, descent or slope of a hill, = Icelandic brekka for *brenka, a slope; prob. connected with Icelandic bringa, a grassy slope, orig. the breast, = Swedish bringa, breast, = Danish bringe, chest. Cf. Welsh bryncyn, a hillock, from bryn, a hill; cf. bron, the breast, breast of a hill.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/brɪŋk/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about once a week.

Recently looked up

despise · weed · splendour · assize · high-spirited

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

Der dicke Dachdecker deckte dir dein Dach, drum dank dem dicken Dachdecker, dass der dicke Dachdecker dir dein Dach deckte. · weitläufig · und wenn sie nicht gestorben sind, so leben sie noch heute · redescheu · selbstverständlich