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

The story, about women pushing against hard glass ceilings, a city on the brink, and the different ways that different people look for freedom, has undergone significant changes on the path from the streets of Baltimore to the pages of a bestseller and now to the screen. —Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2024

However, hunting and large-scale farming, which impacted its wetland habitat, drove the species to the brink of extinction. —Jack Guy, CNN, 18 July 2024

Last summer's record-breaking marine heatwave pushed coral reefs in the Florida Keys to the brink. —Sommer Brugal, Axios, 17 July 2024

According to auto industry mogul Bob Lutz, the first-generation Viper helped bring Chrysler back from the brink of failure. —Bob Sorokanich, Robb Report, 17 July 2024