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

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But that very scenario — a team on the brink through the stretch run — has morphed from unthinkable to plausible in four short months. Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 3 Feb. 2025 With its central storyline about a city on the brink of a natural disaster, underscored by the personal threat of deportation for a member of the 126, it could be argued that tonight’s 9-1-1: Lone Star‘s series finale (Fox, 8/7c) is its timeliest episode yet. Andy Swift, TVLine, 3 Feb. 2025 The autonomous trucking industry stands on the brink of a transformative era, with pioneering companies like Kodiak Robotics leading the charge toward a more efficient and technologically advanced transportation landscape. Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 3 Feb. 2025 In addition to voicing TARS in Interstellar, Irwin also served as the operator of the robot on set, and was fondly remembered for injecting levity into the tale of humanity on the brink of extinction. Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for the brink 

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“The brink.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/the%20brink. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.

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