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

Coulibaly scored 21 times in 52 appearances, form that took him to the brink of a senior debut for Ivory Coast — exactly a decade after his heroics at that Under-17 World Cup in Mexico. —Jay Harris, New York Times, 3 Jan. 2026

After years marked by destabilizing regional violence and domestic unrest, is Iran on the brink of major change? —Rafi Schwartz, TheWeek, 2 Jan. 2026

The new year is all about fresh starts, and JoJo Siwa may be on the brink of a reinvention. —Edward Segarra, USA Today, 2 Jan. 2026

The city is on the brink of something new. —Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 1 Jan. 2026