border on

phrasal verb

bordered on; bordering on; borders on

1

: to have a border on (something) : to lie on a boundary of (something)

The area my ancestors come from borders on the Atacama Desert.

2

: to be very like (something) : to come very close to being (something)

The play's dialog borders on the ridiculous.

an enthusiasm bordering on fanaticism

Examples of border on in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Our devastation of nature is so deep and vast that to reverse its effects, on any front, often entails efforts that are so painstaking and quixotic as to border on the ridiculous. —Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025

California has 16 border protection stations placed along the state’s domestic borders on 14 major highways and interstates. —Camila Pedrosa, Sacramento Bee, 8 Feb. 2025

Trucks drive into United States at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry, on the U.S.-Mexico border on February 1, 2025 in San Diego, California. —Dan Mangan, CNBC, 6 Feb. 2025

They were seen off Perdido Pass near the Alabama-Florida border on Sunday. —Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY, 6 Feb. 2025