precipice

noun

prec·​i·​pice ˈpre-s(ə-)pəs 

1

: a very steep or overhanging place

2

: a hazardous situation

broadly : brink

Synonyms

• barranca
• barranco
• bluff
• cliff
• crag
• escarpment
• palisade
• scar
• scarp

Examples of precipice in a Sentence

Twenty years ago, it seemed unlikely that black and white South Africans could avoid a cataclysmic struggle. How did we manage to turn back from the precipice and join one another in the long walk to a nonracial democracy? —F. W. De Klerk, Time, 18 Apr. 2005

These are the brave, friendly guys and gals who flip, twist, spin and somersault themselves backward into the sky and somehow land on a horrifyingly steep precipice without rearranging their rib cages or breaking their faces. —Curry Kirkpatrick, Newsweek, 21 Feb. 1994

… the helpless Cambodians were bused from the safety of a refugee camp to an outcropping along the border several hundred miles to the northeast, where they were forced over the precipice into a wild and inaccessible part of Cambodia from which it would be almost impossible to return to Thailand. —Barbara Crossette, New York Times Book Review, 2 Aug. 1987

He stood on the edge of the precipice.

scaled the steep precipice with the ease of an experienced climber

Recent Examples on the Web

Producers: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady) –– On the precipice of adulthood, teenagers converge at a traditional folk high school in Arctic Norway. —Peter Debruge, Variety, 11 Dec. 2024

Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady) –– On the precipice of adulthood, teenagers converge at a traditional folk high school in Arctic Norway. —Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Dec. 2024

But that sensibility seems especially widespread right now at the tail end of an already challenging year, and on the precipice of what is bound to be an exhausting, oppressive period. —James Factora, Them, 11 Dec. 2024

Ukraine may be strained, but Russia is edging the precipice of disaster. —Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, TIME, 10 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French, from Middle French, from Latin praecipitium, from praecipit-, praeceps headlong, from prae- + caput head — more at head

First Known Use

1613, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing precipice

• on the edge of a precipice

Kids Definition

precipice

noun

prec·​i·​pice ˈpres-(ə-)pəs 

: a very steep and high face of a rock or mountain