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

Their battles for influence, image and desire, in a Spain on the brink of collapse, are observed and narrated with fierce irony by Francisco de Goya, an uneasy witness who turns palace intrigue into a surprisingly contemporary mirror. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 26 Sep. 2026

Projections suggest that if the epidemic continues at its current pace, 25,000 people in Fiji will be living with HIV by 2029, figures that Soqo says would push Fiji's fragile health system to the brink of collapse. — David Cox, NPR, 26 Sep. 2026

In other words, another metro Atlanta roller rink was on the brink of extinction. — Rodney Ho, AJC.com, 25 Sep. 2026

Stocks have slowed their rally since the S&P 500 climbed to the brink of its all-time high earlier this week as pressure from the bond market has cranked higher. — Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026

Rhymes for the brink

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