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

India and Pakistan have seen the scenario play out before: a terror attack in which Indians are killed leads to a succession of escalatory tit-fot-tat measures that put South Asia on the brink of all-out war. —Farah N. Jan, The Conversation, 10 May 2025

Without decisive action — diversifying plantations with multiple cultivars, investing in robust breeding programs and adopting robust biosecurity — the global banana supply may again teeter on the brink of collapse. —Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 10 May 2025

Madison Square Garden should be rocking for Game 3, and the Knicks will look to put the defending champions on the brink of elimination. —Matt Levine, MSNBC Newsweek, 8 May 2025

Related article India and Pakistan are on the brink of wider conflict. —Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 8 May 2025