Read along with the three podcasts, or open the full dictionary entry for Be on the brink of for the definition, Arabic meaning, synonyms and example sentences.
Narrator: Today's entry is "be on the brink of" — a verb phrase, pronounced /bi ɒn ðə brɪŋk ɒv/, with the stress on "brink".
Narrator: Be on the brink of means to be extremely close to a significant, often dramatic change.
Narrator: In plain English, this phrase describes standing right at the edge of a major shift.
Narrator: It combines "brink", an edge, with "on the", indicating precise, immediate closeness.
Narrator: "On the brink of collapse" describes a system or situation dangerously close to complete failure.
Narrator: It differs from "near" by drama — brink implies real risk or momentous outcome, near is neutral.
Narrator: "On the brink of a breakthrough" describes being extremely close to a major, exciting success.
Narrator: News reporting and dramatic storytelling both frequently rely on "on the brink of".
Narrator: So remember: on the brink of marks dramatic closeness — standing right at the edge of major, consequential change.
Speaker A: "On the brink of collapse" always sounds so alarming in the news. Is that phrase really reserved only for negative outcomes?
Speaker B: Genuinely, no, both directions work! ON THE BRINK OF combines "brink", an edge, with immediate closeness, covering both disaster and exciting breakthroughs equally. It's the drama of the edge itself, not the direction, that matters.
Speaker A: So it really can describe something wonderful approaching, not only something terrible looming ahead?
Speaker B: Exactly — that dual direction is precisely why on the brink of works for good news too!
Speaker A: Example sentences?
Speaker B: "The company was on the brink of bankruptcy"; "scientists are on the brink of a cure"; "she's on the brink of tears" — financial crisis, hopeful discovery, and emotional moment.
Speaker A: Common mistakes?
Speaker B: Always includes "the" — "on brink of" alone sounds incomplete; the definite article is required!
Speaker A: Close relatives?
Speaker B: "On the verge of" the near-identical cousin, "about to" the casual twin, "teetering on" the dramatic alternative. On the brink of keeps its tense, gripping charm!
Speaker B: Let's use "on the brink of" in AI prompts — useful for monitoring-dashboard risk-alert features and startup-pitch urgency-framing copy.
Speaker A: So on the brink of in a prompt could help build a dashboard's risk alert, or write pitch-deck urgency copy?
Speaker B: Right. For a monitoring dashboard's risk-alert feature, you'd write:
Prompt: Flag any server that looks on the brink of failure, based on rising error rates over the last hour.
Speaker A: Good — what about pitch-deck copy describing the market as on the brink of a major shift?
Speaker B: The pitch-deck prompt:
Prompt: Write a slide describing this market as on the brink of a major shift, backed by one striking statistic.
Speaker A: A financial-planning app warning a user when their budget is on the brink of going negative?
Speaker B: The financial-planning prompt:
Prompt: Warn the user when their monthly budget is on the brink of going negative, suggesting one quick adjustment.
Speaker A: One more?
Speaker B: The project-management prompt:
Prompt: Flag any project on the brink of missing its deadline, notifying the manager two days before it slips.
Be on the brink of — meaning in Arabic & definition More B courses GL Dictionary