verge

CEFRB2

/vɜːd͡ʒ/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The edge or border of something.

  2. 02

    noun

    A time when something is about to happen.

Examples

  • She is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

  • The company is on the verge of bankruptcy.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /veːd͡ʒ/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. An edge or border.

  2. A rod or staff of office, e.g. of a verger.

  3. The stick or wand with which persons were formerly admitted tenants, by holding it in the hand and swearing fealty to the lord. Such tenants were called tenants by the verge.

More examples

In context

  • I was on the verge of tears.

  • Eating blowfish verges on insanity.

  • But on the horizon's verge descried, Hangs, touched with light, one snowy sail.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The small business was on the blank of collapse until the loan arrived.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

Borrowed from Middle French verge (“rod or wand of office”), hence "scope, territory dominated", from Latin virga (“shoot, rod stick”), of unknown origin. Earliest attested sense in English is now-obsolete meaning "male member, penis" (c.1400). Modern sense is from the notion of 'within the verge' (1509, also as Anglo-Norman dedeinz la verge), i.e. "subject to the Lord High Steward's authority" (as symbolized by the rod of office), originally a 12-mile radius round the royal court, which sense shifted to "the outermost edge of an expanse or area." Doublet of virga.