verge
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: architecture
biology
hobbies
horology
lifestyle
natural-sciences
zoology
Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French verge (“rod or wand of office”), hence "scope, territory dominated", from Latin virga (“shoot, rod stick”), of unknown origin. Earliest attested sense in English is now-obsolete meaning "male member, penis" (c.1400). Modern sense is from the notion of 'within the verge' (1509, also as Anglo-Norman dedeinz la verge), i.e. "subject to the Lord High Steward's authority" (as symbolized by the rod of office), originally a 12-mile radius round the royal court, which sense shifted to "the outermost edge of an expanse or area." Doublet of virga.
Inflected forms:
form: verges
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: verges
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: verging
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: verged
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: verged
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A rod or staff of office, e.g. of a verger.
pos: noun
gloss: A rod or staff of office, e.g. of a verger.
pos: noun
tags: UK
historical
gloss: An edge or border.
pos: noun
examples: Even though we go to the extreme verge of possibility to invent a supposition favourable to it, the theory[…]implies an absurdity.
But on the horizon's verge descried,
 Hangs, touched with light, one snowy sail.
It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the other hedge, it was quite easy to fancy it the verge of the prairie with the backwoods close by.
gloss: An edge or border.
pos: noun
tags: Australia
New-Zealand
UK
Western
examples: The shoulders are graded and the verges cleared well back to lessen the chances of hitting stray stock.
gloss: An edge or border.
pos: noun
tags: figuratively
examples: I was on the verge of tears.
The tremendous tragedy in which he had been involved – it was evident he was a fugitive from Weybridge - had driven him to the very verge of his reason.
gloss: The phallus.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
gloss: The phallus.
pos: noun
tags: obsolete
gloss: An old measure of land: a virgate or yardland.
pos: noun
gloss: A circumference; a circle; a ring.
pos: noun
examples: The inclusive verge
 Of golden metal that must round my brow.
gloss: The shaft of a column, or a small ornamental shaft.
pos: noun
gloss: The eaves or edge of the roof that projects over the gable of a roof.
pos: noun
examples: The smaller ribs of tiles that run down to the eaves, along the ridges in a hip-roof, or border the verge in a gable-roof , often terminate in some ornamental tile in high-relief .
gloss: The spindle of a watch balance, especially one with pallets, as in the old vertical escapement.
pos: noun
gloss: To be or come very close; to border; to approach.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: Eating blowfish verges on insanity.
gloss: To bend or incline; to tend downward; to slope.
pos: verb
Synonyms: berm
besidewalk
boulevard
boulevard strip
city easement
common
county strip
curb lawn
curb strip
devil strip/devil's strip/devilstrip
drivestrip/drive strip
easement
extension lawn
furniture zone
grass bay
grassplot
hellstrip
island strip
landscape zone
long acre
median
mow strip
nature strip
neutral ground
parking
parking strip
parkrow
parkstrip/park strip
parkway
parkway strip
planter zone
planting strip
right-of-way
road allowance
road verge
roadside
shoulder
sidewalk buffer
sidewalk lawn
sidewalk plot
sidewalk strip
street lawn
subway
swale
terrace
tree belt
tree box
tree lawn
utility strip
verge
Derived words: on the verge
on the verge of
road verge
soft-verge
verge escapement
verger
verge staff
converge
convergence
convergent
diverge
divergence
divergent
verge on
Translations:
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 權杖 /权杖
roman: quánzhàng
lang: Dutch
word: roede
lang: Dutch
word: staf
lang: Finnish
word: valtikka
lang: Indonesian
word: ambang
lang: Russian
word: жезл
roman: žezl
lang: Russian
word: по́сох
roman: pósox
lang: Bulgarian
word: край
roman: kraj
lang: Bulgarian
word: предел
roman: predel
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 邊 /边
roman: biān
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 邊緣 /边缘
roman: biānyuán
lang: Czech
word: pokraj
lang: Czech
word: okraj
lang: Finnish
word: reuna
lang: Finnish
word: parras
lang: Finnish
word: raja
lang: Finnish
word: ääri
lang: Finnish
word: äyräs
lang: Galician
word: beira
lang: Georgian
word: კიდე
roman: ḳide
lang: Georgian
word: ზღვარი
roman: zɣvari
lang: Georgian
word: საზღვარი
roman: sazɣvari
lang: Georgian
word: მიჯნა
roman: miǯna
lang: Georgian
word: ნაპირი
roman: naṗiri
lang: German
word: Rand
lang: Indonesian
word: ambang
lang: Irish
word: broinne
lang: Irish
word: ciumhais
lang: Portuguese
word: beira
lang: Portuguese
word: beirada
lang: Russian
word: грань
roman: granʹ
lang: Russian
word: край
roman: kraj
lang: Russian
word: грани́ца
roman: graníca
lang: Russian
word: рубе́ж
roman: rubéž
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: iomall
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: oir
lang: Spanish
word: arcén
lang: Spanish
word: borde
lang: Turkish
word: kenar