bordering (on)

verb

present participle of border (on)
1
as in touching (on)
to come very close to being that comment borders on insubordination, and you should be more careful in the future

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in adjoining
to be adjacent to that state borders on three others

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bordering (on)
  1. resembling
  2. adjoining
  3. joining
  4. flanking
  5. surrounding
  6. touching
  7. neighboring
Verb
  • There’s even one resembling a glistening rainbow Nerds Gummy Cluster.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Kidman shared an Instagram post wearing a preppy, polished outfit accessorized with a small, structured top-handle bag resembling Chanel’s $4,850 Clutch with Chain.
    — Mariana Best, PEOPLE, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of resembling
Verb
  • Cocktails are served at Drink Kong, the sexy, high-concept cocktail bar—its second location in the city—adjoining the property.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Undeterred, the three friends bought the hotel and adjoining property for $3 million and have since spent over $10 million on renovations and redesign.
    — Madeleine Kashkooli, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of adjoining
Verb
  • The Paris march proceeded peacefully, with students, workers and retirees joining.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 6 Nov. 2026
  • The company also used non-compete agreements restricting employees from joining rivals for two years, as part of their employment contracts, with senior employees holding valuable technical expertise likely facing closer scrutiny.
    — Jenny Lee, CNBC, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of joining
Verb
  • The pendants by Apparatus hang over custom nightstands flanking the bed.
    — Rembert Browne, Architectural Digest, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Bönan is also overseeing the renovation of Kiton’s six-story townhouse and showroom on East 54th Street in New York, expected to be completed in 2027 to become a new flagship, flanking the existing unit on Madison Avenue.
    — Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of flanking
Verb
  • When a single cell in a repeating lattice cracks or punctures, the surrounding identical cells immediately follow suit, causing a chain-reaction collapse.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 12 Nov. 2026
  • Following Masias’ detainment, immigration agents who milled about the parking were nonresponsive to the protesters, who shouted at them through the locked fence surrounding the Moss building as Sacramento Fire Department personnel treated Masias.
    — Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 12 Nov. 2026
Definition of surrounding
Verb
  • Because Huang is the public face of Nvidia and directs its engineering strategy, any foreign intelligence contact touching his inner circle is certain to draw scrutiny from US defense officials.
    — Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 9 Nov. 2026
  • The answer was body contact, which helps reveal which couple is real, so the team settled on choreography with plenty of touching.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of touching
Verb
  • The El Dorado Hills Community Services District could spend up to $76,000 to remove park lights installed just five years ago after residents of a neighboring senior community fought the project in court.
    — Daniel Lempres, Sacbee.com, 11 Nov. 2026
  • Russia’s chief negotiator is Medinsky, a Putin aide who has led Moscow’s team since the first full-fledged peace negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul in March 2022, although exploratory talks took place earlier in neighboring Belarus.
    — Bassam Hatoum, Los Angeles Times, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of neighboring
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

bordering
bordering (on)
borderland
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bordering (on).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bordering%20%28on%29. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

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