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 Israel launched a massive military campaign against Hamas and the resulting bombardment and ground assault has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, leveled large swaths of Gaza and caused a humanitarian crisis that's left the population on the brink of starvation. —

Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 26 Apr. 2024 Development of the port and pier comes as Israel faces widespread international criticism over the slow trickle of aid into the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations says at least a quarter of the population sits on the brink of starvation. —

Lolita C. Baldor, arkansasonline.com, 26 Apr. 2024 President Joe Biden ordered the military in March to build the pier after experts warned Gaza was on the brink of famine. —

Anne Flaherty, ABC News, 24 Apr. 2024 Three years on, the Southeast Asian nation is teetering on the brink of failed statehood. —

Hannah Beech Adam Ferguson, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2024 At the same time, Colombia is on the brink of its vintage scene. —

Lilah Ramzi, Vogue, 22 Apr. 2024 Michelin is implementing a standard minimum wage for all its global employees after leaders were informed many workers were living on the brink. —

Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 19 Apr. 2024 The announcement mourning Zahedi’s death warned about a pending attack against Israel as the Middle East is on the brink of a possible wide-ranging open war. —

Benjamin Weinthal, Fox News, 13 Apr. 2024 All the while, the original $13 million budget tripled, forcing Francis to mortgage the family home and putting him on the brink of bankruptcy. —

Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Apr. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'the brink.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.