border

noun

bor·der | \ ˈbȯr-dər

Definition of border

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : an outer part or edge at the borders of the forest

2 textiles : an ornamental design at the edge of a fabric or rug

3 : a narrow bed of planted ground along the edge of a lawn or walkway a border of tulips

4 : boundary on the border between New York and Canada crossed the border into Italy

5 : a plain or decorative margin around printed matter wedding invitations with a delicate gold leaf border

border

verb

bordered; bordering\ ˈbȯr-d(ə-)riŋ

Definition of border (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to put a border on a rug bordered with a pattern of leaves bordered the garden with pansies

2 : to touch at the edge or boundary : bound borders the city on the south Slovakia borders Poland.

intransitive verb

1 : to lie on the border the U.S. borders on Canada

2 : to approach the nature of a specified thing : verge borders on the ridiculous

Other Words from border Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about border

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Other Words from border

Noun

bordered \ ˈbȯr-dərd

\ adjective

Verb

borderer \ ˈbȯr-dər-ər

\ noun

Examples of border in a Sentence

Noun

He grew up in Malaysia, near the Indonesian border. They live just beyond the western border of the park. the border of the Sahara The quilt is quite plain except for its colorful border. a broad red border on each plate He planted pansies in the border.

Verb

Their property borders the park. Tall trees border the avenue. Two rivers border the city.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The Trump administration is preparing for nearly 180,000 migrants traveling as families to cross the southern border of the U.S. by May, continuing an already record-breaking year. — Alicia A. Caldwell, WSJ, "Record Immigration Surge at U.S.-Mexico Border to Accelerate, Government Projects," 10 Mar. 2019 The results were less than successful; the simple aqua pool suddenly sported a border of highly decorative cobalt and white Portuguese tile, while pinky-beige crown moldings appeared in the lobbies. — Steven Stolman, House Beautiful, "This Delightfully Retro Apartment Complex Has Been Home to Design Royalty," 6 Mar. 2019 The basic problem: If a city or state passes strict gun control measures, people can simply cross a border to buy guns in a jurisdiction with laxer laws. — German Lopez, Vox, "I’ve covered gun violence for years. The solutions aren’t a big mystery.," 14 Feb. 2019 Announced in April, the policy stated the administration’s intention to criminally prosecute anyone who crossed the border without documentation. — Jewel Wicker, Teen Vogue, "Report Claims Trump Administration Is Still Separating Families at the Border," 28 Nov. 2018 Microsoft also added the ability to add a small border to the screenshot, to avoid pasting a white image into a screenful of black and white text; and the ability to quickly print right from within the app itself. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Hints of Windows 10's 2019 future show up in early '19H1' builds," 6 Nov. 2018 At the border between day and night, the image shows a collection of small craters that are almost certainly caused by impacts. — Avery Thompson, Popular Mechanics, "NASA Releases New, High-Quality Image of Ultima Thule," 28 Jan. 2019 At the time of publication, the government was shut down over funding for his Mexican border wall. — Cady Drell, Marie Claire, "Everybody Running for President in 2020," 18 Jan. 2019 Remember, Republicans are unable to run on repeal of ObamaCare, unable to run on building a border wall or reducing the deficit. — Fox News, "McConnell on marshalling the votes to confirm Kavanaugh," 7 Oct. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

At their school, in the district of Mae Sai bordering Myanmar, classmates pray to see them again. — Time, "Grandfather of Trapped Thai Boy Says He’ll ‘Never Let Them Near a Cave Again’," 5 July 2018 The towns bordering 495 already get spillover traffic, mostly outbound, when the road is backed up. — Washington Post, "Major New York-area traffic bottleneck about to get worse," 23 June 2018 Separately on Sunday, three members of another family were killed when homemade bombs exploded at an apartment in Sidoarjo, a town bordering Surabaya, police say. — Niniek Karmini, chicagotribune.com, "Police headquarters in Indonesian city attacked after church bombings," 14 May 2018 Just not in a tourist mecca in the country’s southwest corner bordering Mexico that has a temperate summer climate and a rich history of hosting international soccer games. — Mark Zeigler, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Why San Diego won't be a venue in the 2026 World Cup," 13 June 2018 To test their prototype, Stephens called Will Hurd, a Republican congressperson whose district includes the nation’s longest stretch of land bordering Mexico. — Steven Levy, WIRED, "Inside Palmer Luckey’s Bid to Build A Border Wall," 11 June 2018 On May 8, pro-democracy protester Nikol Pashinyan was appointed interim Prime Minister of Armenia, the tiny Moscow-friendly former Soviet state bordering Turkey, Georgia, Iran and Azerbaijan. — Kate Samuelson, Time, "Armenia’s Peaceful Protester Takes Power in a Bloodless Revolution," 8 May 2018 Brown’s commitment brought the pledges from four states that border Mexico to just shy of the low end of the president’s target of 2,000 to 4,000 troops. — Kathleen Ronayne And Elliot Spagat, BostonGlobe.com, "California to join Guard border mission, but with conditions," 13 Apr. 2018 Ongoing drug cartel violence in Mexico played a role especially in the Valley, as highways from Mexican states bordering Texas have frequently been deemed unsafe for travel. — Lynn Brezosky, San Antonio Express-News, "Data shows Mexican spending for Semana Santa holy week down significantly since 2012," 6 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'border.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.