verge on


Also found in: Idioms.
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verge

noun
1. A fairly narrow line or space forming a boundary:
border, borderline, brim, brink, edge, edging, fringe, margin, periphery, rim.
Chiefly Military: perimeter.
2. A transitional interval beyond which some new action or different state of affairs is likely to begin or occur:
borderline, brink, edge, point, threshold.
verb
1. To be contiguous or next to:
abut, adjoin, border, bound, butt, join, meet, neighbor, touch.
2. To put or form a border on:
border, bound, edge, fringe, margin, rim, skirt.
phrasal verb
verge on
To come near, as in quality or amount:
approach, approximate, border on (or upon), challenge, rival.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

w>verge on

vi +prep obj (ideas, actions) → grenzen an (+acc); the plot verges on the ridiculous → die Handlung grenzt ans Lächerliche; he’s verging on bankruptcy → er steht kurz vor dem Bankrott; she is verging on fifty → sie geht auf die fünfzig zu; she was verging on madness → sie stand am Rande des Wahnsinns
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007