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

Modern ecosystems are shaped by additional pressures including overfishing, habitat degradation and pollution, all of which are currently threatening most species of sharks to the brink of extinction. —Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026

Rick Adelman, the coach who led the Sacramento Kings to the brink of an NBA championship, died at the age of 79. —Jason Anderson, Sacbee.com, 1 June 2026

San Antonio won the conference finals’ opening game, evened the series at 2-2 in Game 4, but faced the brink of elimination after losing in Game 5 before winning two straight to topple the team expected by many to win the NBA title. —Andrew Greif, NBC news, 31 May 2026

Instead, with Wembanyama setting the tone with his Ray Allen impersonation early and maintaining force on both ends throughout, these young Spurs found themselves on the brink of what would be a landscape-changing upset. —William Guillory, New York Times, 31 May 2026

Rhymes for the brink

• bethink
• downlink
• groupthink
• hoodwink
• rethink
• uplink
• blink
• chink
• cinque
• clink
• dink
• drink