on the edge of
idiom
: very close to (something)
a species on the edge of extinction
The company was teetering on the edge of disaster/bankruptcy.
He was on the edge of saying something when the phone rang.
Examples of on the edge of in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
One person died Saturday and three others were injured in a late-night shooting in southeast Denver, on the edge of the city’s Kennedy neighborhood, police said.
—
Lauren Penington, Denver Post, 4 Jan. 2026
Little Miss Muffin ’N’ Her Stuffin, on the edge of Prospect Heights, makes barbecue-chicken patties that cannot be beat.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 4 Jan. 2026
That event led to a 22% decline in the population of Rice’s whales, a devastating impact on a species teetering on the edge of survival.
—Christian Wagley, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 Jan. 2026
That makes equipment harder for the next user to find and can even create safety issues if, say, a dumbbell is left in the middle of a walkway, or a weight plate is placed precariously on the edge of a bench.
—Jenny McCoy, Outside, 2 Jan. 2026
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Lauren Penington, Denver Post, 4 Jan. 2026
Little Miss Muffin ’N’ Her Stuffin, on the edge of Prospect Heights, makes barbecue-chicken patties that cannot be beat.
—Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 4 Jan. 2026
That event led to a 22% decline in the population of Rice’s whales, a devastating impact on a species teetering on the edge of survival.
—Christian Wagley, The Orlando Sentinel, 3 Jan. 2026
That makes equipment harder for the next user to find and can even create safety issues if, say, a dumbbell is left in the middle of a walkway, or a weight plate is placed precariously on the edge of a bench.
—Jenny McCoy, Outside, 2 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for on the edge of
Cite this Entry
“On the edge of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/on%20the%20edge%20of. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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