brink

From Middle English brinke, brenke, from Old Norse *brenka, brekka, from Proto-Germanic *brinkǭ, *brinkaz (“hill, edge (of land)”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰren- (“to project”). Cognate with Dutch brink (“grassland”), regional German Brink, Icelandic brekka (“slope”); also Tocharian B prenke (“island”), Irish braine (“prow”).

• IPA^(key): /bɹɪŋk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋk

brink (plural brinks)

1. The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge.

   the brink of a river

2. (figurative) The edge or border.

   the brink of success

   • 2025 June 1, Raphael Rashid, “As South Korea heads to the polls, can Lee Jae-myung bring the country back from the brink?”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     As South Korea heads to the polls, can Lee Jae-myung bring the country back from the brink? [title]

• “brink”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “brink”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

From Middle Dutch brinc, from Old Dutch brink, from Proto-Germanic *brinkaz.

Cognate with English brink.

• IPA^(key): /brɪŋk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: brink
• Rhymes: -ɪŋk

brink m (plural brinken, diminutive brinkje n)

1. village green, functioning as a central square
2. edge or margin of a field
3. edge or margin of a hill
4. grassy edge or margin of a strip of land
5. grassland

• brinkdorp

brink

1. alternative form of brinke