verge

1 of 3

noun

ˈvərj 

1

a

: brink, threshold

a country on the verge of destruction

—Archibald MacLeish

b

: something that borders, limits, or bounds: such as

(1)

: an outer margin of an object or structural part

(2)

: the edge of roof covering (such as tiling) projecting over the gable of a roof

(3)

British : a paved or planted strip of land at the edge of a road : shoulder

2

a(1)

: a rod or staff carried as an emblem of authority or symbol of office

(2)

obsolete : a stick or wand held by a person being admitted to tenancy while he swears fealty

b

: the spindle of a watch balance

especially : a spindle with pallets in an old vertical escapement

c

: the male copulatory organ of any of various invertebrates

verge

2 of 3

verb (1)

verged; verging

intransitive verb

1

: to be contiguous

2

: to be on the verge or border

the line where sentiment verges on mawkishness

—Thomas Hardy

verge

3 of 3

verb (2)

verged; verging

intransitive verb

1

a

of the sun : to move or tend toward the horizon : sink

b

: to move or extend in some direction or toward some condition

verging to a hasty decline

—Edward Gibbon

2

: to be in transition or change

Synonyms

Noun

• brink
• cusp
• edge
• point
• threshold

Verb (1)

• abut
• adjoin
• border (on)
• butt (on or against)
• flank
• fringe
• join
• march (with)
• neighbor
• skirt
• touch

Examples of verge in a Sentence

Noun

the suspect was on the verge of confessing when the officers realized that he hadn't been read his rights

the southern verge of the national park

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But while the aesthetic verges on timeless, interiors can often feel stuck in the era when the home was built. —Jessica Cherner, House Beautiful, 7 Sep. 2023

China is experiencing the opposite problem: People and businesses are not spending, pushing the economy to the verge of a pernicious condition called deflation. —Keith Bradsher, New York Times, 9 Aug. 2023

Experts say housing affordability, stagnant wages and rising prices due to inflation have pushed people into or to the verge of homelessness. —Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2023

Kentucky football roster breakdown:Ranking 5 players on verge of breakout season in 2023 Kentucky basketball roster watch:What's next after Wildcats' latest transfer portal miss? —Ryan Black, The Courier-Journal, 31 May 2023

Barnwell was stoic standing in a grassy verge away from the outlet mall, which was cordoned off by police cars. —Maggie Prosser, Dallas News, 7 May 2023

In Rabbit Hole, the first season of which is exclusively airing on Paramount+, Sutherland plays Jonathan Weir, a private corporate spy on the verge of retirement who must go on the run after he is framed for murder by a shadowy cabal. —Philip Ellis, Men's Health, 10 Apr. 2023

No, the controversial social media network isn’t on the verge of imminent collapse. —Hiawatha Bray, BostonGlobe.com, 3 July 2023

Cincinnati is the top seed in the Central Division bracket, but fell behind 3-0 in the series after the Walleye won the first two games at Heritage Bank Center and got to the verge of clinching with a 2-1 win Wednesday night at Huntington Center in Toledo. —Jason Hoffman, The Enquirer, 12 May 2023

Verb

The juggernaut around Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is even more formidable: Barbie pink, a hothouse hue verging on fuchsia, is everywhere. —Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 13 July 2023

Today, Russia under President Vladimir Putin is an autocracy verging on military dictatorship, while the Ukrainian political system, for all its flaws, has retained two important features of democracy: free competition among parties and the peaceful turnover of power. —Leon Aron, wsj.com, 6 Apr. 2023

Crash protection, for example, verges on the nonexistent. —Larry Webster, Car and Driver, 23 Aug. 2023

Others went beyond a critique of the likeness itself, suggesting that the nose verged on antisemitic caricature. —Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 16 Aug. 2023

His talent for false friendship verged on the sociopathic. —Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 14 Aug. 2023

There are a couple of thrilling moments when the description verges on body horror, as when Beach gives herself folliculitis—pustulating sores and all—by shaving with a rusty razor for a date with a guy who not only friend-zones her but gets her help moving out of his apartment. —Tyler Foggatt, The New Yorker, 19 July 2023

Having a child might be a blessing or a difficulty within the tropes of a domestic drama, but the actual mechanics of bringing that child into the world verge on body horror, the genre perhaps best typified by the films of David Cronenberg. —Alexandra Kleeman, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2023

His presence in the crowd verges on magical realism, taking the fantasy world of the stage and offering it as an up-close reality. —Jon Caramanica, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, "rod, measuring rod, margin," borrowed from Anglo-French, "rod, area of jurisdiction," going back to Latin virga "shoot, twig, rod, line,"; perhaps, if going back to *wiz-g-, akin to Old Norse visk "wisp" — more at whisk entry 1

Verb (1)

verbal derivative of verge entry 1

Verb (2)

borrowed from Latin vergere "to move downward, slope downward, sink," going back to Indo-European *h₂u̯erg- "turn around, turn (to)," whence also, with varying ablaut and suffixation, Greek eérgō, eérgein (Attic eírgein) "to shut in, keep away, hinder" (conflated with outcomes of *u̯erǵ- "shut in"), Sanskrit (Vedic) vṛṇákti "(s/he) turns," and, as a nominal derivative, Hittite ḫurki- "wheel"

Note: This is the etymological solution preferred by Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2. Auflage, 2001, and M. de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic Languages (Brill, 2008). The laryngeal *h₂ is required by the Hittite noun, though the Greek verb then must be explained as the result of vowel assimilation (*au̯erg- to *eu̯erg-). See also wrench entry 1.

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2a(1)

Verb (1)

1787, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

1610, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing verge

• on the verge of
• verge on/upon

• on the verge of
• verge on/upon

Kids Definition

verge

1 of 2 noun

ˈvərj 

1

: something that borders, limits, or bounds : edge

walking on the grassy verge at the side of a country road

2

: brink sense 2, threshold

the company was on the verge of bankruptcy

verge

2 of 2 verb

verged; verging

: to come near to being

courage verging on recklessness

Medical Definition

verge

see anal verge