verge

Everyday

1. A verge is the strip of grass beside a road or path. tree →
2. On the verge of means very close to doing something or to something happening, as in «on the verge of tears». tree →
3. To verge on something means to be almost that thing, as in «verging on rude». tree →
4. A verge can also be the edge of something, such as the edge of a stream or of a wide plain. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life and road safety: walk on the verge if there's no pavement; in stories it shows a character very close to an emotion or event; phrases: on the verge of, verge on, grass verge, roadside verge.

Examples

• We walked along the grass verge to the farm. tree →
• Park on the verge, not on the road. tree →
• She was on the verge of tears when she lost her dog. tree →
• Scientists are on the verge of a big discovery. tree →
• His joke verged on being mean. tree →
• Wildflowers grow on the road verges in summer. tree →
• At the end of a village on the verge of the steppe dwelt two brothers, one rich and the other poor. tree →

Note

Countable. «On the verge of» is followed by a noun or -ing form: «on the verge of crying». In the USA the grass strip is often called a «median» or «shoulder» or «parkway» instead.