- 1An edge or border: they came down to the verge of the lakeMore example sentences
- The flat verges were littered with seaweed and plastic flotsam.
- 1.1An extreme limit beyond which something specified will happen: I was on the verge of tearsMore example sentences
brink, threshold, edge, point
- But his centuries-old livelihood is on the verge of collapse since the areca nut price has crashed beyond imagination.
- An extremely competent golfer, Alf was on the verge of turning professional at one time.
- Health bosses are believed to be on the verge of producing a new document outlining the fate of Ilkley's Coronation Hospital.
- 1.2British A grass edging such as that by the side of a road or path.More example sentences
- In north Norfolk we are used to the dramatic appearance of a Barn Owl as it hunts the road side verges searching for small rodents.
- These days the Trace is a bitumen road, grass verges neatly manicured and mowed for mile after funereal mile.
- The dog, nicknamed John, appeared on the grass verge by the side of the road in the main street through the village.
- 1.3 Architecture An edge of tiles projecting over a gable.More example sentences
- The poor condition of that tiling and the defective mortar to the verge tiling generally warranted further investigation, in Mr Bruce's opinion.
- Only if society is on the verge of collapse can a communist revolution succeed.
verb[no object] (verge on) Back to top
- Approach (something) closely; be close or similar to (something): despair verging on the suicidalMore example sentences
- ‘The Arabs have been driven into a state verging on despair; and the present unrest is no more than an expression of that despair’.
- Stuart MacGill, Warne's replacement, is a perfectly-good bowler, but he struggled, so much so that his body language often verged on despair.
late Middle English: via Old French from Latin virga 'rod'. The current verb sense dates from the late 18th century.
- A wand or rod carried before a bishop or dean as an emblem of office.More example sentences
- ‘I will carry on looking after the verges until they (the council) shoot me,’ he said.
late Middle English: from Latin virga 'rod'.
- Incline in a certain direction or toward a particular state: his style verged into the art nouveau schoolMore example sentences
- ‘We are fast verging toward anarchy and confusion,’ he wrote.
- If that were so, it would be tempting to dismiss these poems as mere word-play, verging toward nonsense.
- If full, then verge south of start, lots down at Bonfield Gill half a mile from start.
early 17th century (in the sense 'descend (to the horizon)'): from Latin vergere 'to bend, incline'.