edge
edge
/edʒ/
1 countable the outside limit of an object, a surface or an area; the part furthest from the centre I gripped the edge of my desk to steady myself.
the first spacecraft to travel to the edge of the solar system.
on the edge of something He stood on the edge of the cliff.
Stand the coin on its edge.
at the edge of something a big house on/at the edge of town
I sat down at the water's edge.
near the edge of something Don't put that glass so near the edge of the table.
She tore the page out roughly, leaving a ragged edge in the book.
My foot caught the edge of the table.
She sat on the edge of her bed.
My fingers played with the frayed edges of my jeans.
Flip the fabric over so the cut edge is now to your left.
She could see rocky cliffs on the opposite edge of the lake.
Smoke was making its way around the edges of the door.
The building forms the northern edge of the courtyard.
The road skirts the western edge of the forest.
Trees lined the edges of the path.
We had reached the edge of the map and didn't know which way to go.
the top edge of the picture frame
Collocations
adjective
topupperbottom…
verb + edge
reachskirtclutch…
preposition
along the edgearound the edgeround the edge…
phrases
right on the edge
2 countable the sharp part of a knife, blade or sword that is used for cutting Be careful—it has a sharp edge.
a knife with a serrated edge
Collocations
adjective
verb + edge
3 (usually the edge) singular the point at which something, especially something bad, may begin to happen They had brought the country to the edge of disaster.
4 singular a slight advantage over somebody/something The company needs to improve its competitive edge.
edge on/over somebody/something They have the edge on us.
Their training gave them an extra edge.
He believes Marseilles have a slight edge as they face Rangers at home.
The intensive training she had done gave her the edge over the other runners.
This is one of the key ways in which the firm can gain the edge over its competitors.
Collocations
adjective
competitiveslightbig…
verb + edge
give somebody/somethinggainhave…
preposition
edge over
5 singular a strong, often exciting, quality Her show now has a hard political edge to it.
6 singular a sharp tone of voice, often showing anger He did his best to remain calm, but there was a distinct edge to his voice.
7 -edged (in adjectives) having the type of edge or edges mentioned
a lace-edged handkerchief
Idioms
to be nervous, excited or easily made angry
to be in a difficult situation where any mistake may be very dangerous
Social workers operate on the razor’s edge.
TOPICS DangerC2
Word Origin
Old English ecg ‘sharpened side of a blade’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch egge and German Ecke, also to Old Norse eggja ‘incite’, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin acies ‘edge’ and Greek akis ‘point’.