verge

1 of 3

noun

1
a
: brink, threshold
a country on the verge of destructionArchibald 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 mawkishnessThomas 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 declineEdward Gibbon
2
: to be in transition or change

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
Their performances in this gonzo sci-fi fest verge on camp, as does the movie's Grand Guignol sense of violence. Katie Rife, EW.com, 19 Oct. 2023 Duvall on the verge There’s a strong chance Adam Duvall (wrist fracture) will be reinstated Friday for the start of a three-game series against the Yankees in New York. Julian McWilliams, BostonGlobe.com, 7 June 2023 But here are nine reasons why Sacramento seems to be a city on the verge: 1. Chris MacIas and Tim Swanson, Sacramento Bee, 31 Jan. 2024 There will be mirrors, and doubling, and tears, because hiring Julianne Moore to play a woman on the verge and not having this extraordinary screen crier turn on the waterworks is practically akin to a war crime. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 29 Nov. 2023 The operatic canon represents a long lineage of women pushed well beyond the verge of a nervous breakdown. Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 22 Sep. 2023 In the Clarinet Sonata, Anthony McGill displayed eerily beautiful arpeggios just on the verge of audibility. Christian Hertzog, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Oct. 2023 Southall’s record was recorded at Tulsa’s Church Studio with Eddie Spear, who produced American Heartbreak, the 2022 triple album from Bryan that pushed the Oklahoma native from the verge of stardom to the hottest act in country music. Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 26 Sep. 2023 Despite alarm bells, economists say China is likely not on the verge of collapse, but this could be a turning point. Erika Page, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Sep. 2023
Verb
Not everything on Eternal Sunshine is successful; the softness of the production can verge into blandness, its bittersweetness becoming noncommittal. Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 13 Mar. 2024 The resulting series of escalating high jinks, which includes the use of blowfish poison, verges on the farcical, but the novel’s major chord is one of rueful longing. The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 Yet the stories that emerge from these wars can verge on their own sort of mythmaking. Gregg Carlstrom, Foreign Affairs, 6 Mar. 2024 Skinny silhouettes were, in hindsight, a highly unlikely proposition for mass adoption: not just physically constrictive but also revealing to a degree that could verge on a violation of privacy. Jonah Weiner, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2024 With polls showing that hundreds of Tory lawmakers could lose their seats, the mood inside the party now verges on panic, according to officials. Stephen Castle, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2024 While this may have felt permissible in any other context, its presentation alongside the movie’s Ukrainian subjects — who have no such option to escape their circumstances — verges on betrayal, and momentarily renders her commentary futile. Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 16 Feb. 2024 Smut even suggests Maas' titles verge on erotica, which is also a genre with immense worth and full of great writers. Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 1 Feb. 2024 To my confusion verging on panic, there are no results in the app. Anusha Praturu, Vulture, 15 Dec. 2023

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

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of verge was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near verge

Cite this Entry

“Verge.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/verge. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

verge

1 of 2 noun
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

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