edge

From Middle English egge, from Old English eċġ, from Proto-West Germanic *aggju, from Proto-Germanic *agjō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”).

See also Dutch egge, German Ecke, Swedish egg, Norwegian egg; also Welsh hogi (“to sharpen, hone”), Latin aciēs (“sharp”), acus (“needle”), Latvian ašs, ass (“sharp”), Ancient Greek ἀκίς (akís, “needle”), ἀκμή (akmḗ, “point”), and Persian آس (âs, “grinding stone”)).

• IPA^(key): /ɛd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: edge
• Rhymes: -ɛdʒ

edge (plural edges)

1. The boundary line of a surface.
2. (geometry) A one-dimensional face of a polytope. In particular, the joining line between two vertices of a polygon; the place where two faces of a polyhedron meet.
3. An advantage.

   I have the edge on him.

   • 2013 December, Paul Voss, “Small Drones Deserve Sensible Regulation”, in IEEE Spectrum:

     It’s no secret that the United States may be losing its edge in civilian aviation. Nowhere is this more apparent than with small unmanned aircraft, those tiny flying robots that promise to transform agriculture, forestry, pipeline monitoring, filmmaking, and more.

   • 2017 August 25, Euan McKirdy et al, "Arrest warrant to be issued for former Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra", in edition.cnn.com, CNN:

     Thitinan said Yingluck's decision to skip the verdict hearing will have "emboldened" the military government. "They would not have wanted to put her in jail, in this scenario, (but her not showing up today) puts her on the back foot and gives them an edge."

4. (also figuratively) The thin cutting side of the blade of an instrument, such as an ax, knife, sword, or scythe; that which cuts as an edge does, or wounds deeply, etc.
   • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], line 1818:

     No, 'tis slander; / Whose edge is sharper than the sword;

   • 1833, Adam Clarke (editor), Revelations, II, 12, The New Testament, page 929:

     And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges:

   • 2024 September 9, Ellie Violet Bramley, quoting Tom Morris, “‘Just the right amount of edge’: how Marseille became 2024’s on-trend city”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Unlike a lot of the south of France, which, he said, “can be expensive, and a little too overdone and chi-chi for my tastes”, Marseille “has just the right amount of edge while being surrounded by incredibly stunning landscapes […] .”

5. A sharp terminating border; a margin; a brink; an extreme verge.

   The cup is right on the edge of the table.

   He is standing on the edge of a precipice.

   • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:

     Here by, upon the edge of yonder coppice; / A stand, where you may make the fairest shoot.

   • 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge / Of battle when it rag'd, in all assaults

   • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:

     they never wanted the pretext, and seldom the will, to harass and pursue, even to the very edge of destruction, any of their less powerful neighbours

6. Sharpness; readiness or fitness to cut; keenness; intenseness of desire.
   • a. 1667, Jeremy Taylor, “Sermon X: The Faith and Patience of the Saints, Part 2”, in The Whole Sermons of Jeremy Taylor, published 1841, page 69:

     Death and persecution lose all the ill that they can have, if we do not set an edge upon them by our fears and by our vices.

   • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 175:

     we are to turn the full edge of our indignation upon the accursed instrument, which had so well nigh occasioned his utter falling away.

7. The border or part adjacent to the line of division; the beginning or early part (of a period of time)

   in the edge of evening

   • 1670, John Milton, The History of Britain, The Prose Works of John Milton, published 1853, Volume V, page 203

     supposing that the new general, unacquainted with his army, and on the edge of winter, would not hastily oppose them.

8. (cricket) A shot where the ball comes off the edge of the bat, often unintentionally.
   • 2004 March 29, R. Bharat Rao Short report: Ind-Pak T1D2 Session 1 in rec.sports.cricket, Usenet

     Finally another edge for 4, this time dropped by the keeper

10. (graph theory) A connected pair of vertices in a graph.
11. A level of sexual arousal that is maintained just short of reaching the point of inevitability, or climax.
12. (computing, often attributive) The point of data production in an organization (the focus of edge computing), as opposed to the cloud.
    • 2022, Sergio Mendez, Edge Computing Systems with Kubernetes, Packt Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 5:

      Remember that edge computing refers to data that is processed on edge devices before the result goes to its destination, which could be on a public or private cloud.

• (advantage): advantage, gain
• (sharp terminating border): brink, boundary, lip, margin, rim
• (in graph theory): line

edge (third-person singular simple present edges, present participle edging, simple past and past participle edged)

1. (transitive) To move an object slowly and carefully in a particular direction.

   He edged the book across the table.

   The muggers edged her into an alley and demanded money.

2. (intransitive) To move slowly and carefully in a particular direction.

   He edged away from her.

   • 2011 April 11, Phil McNulty, “Liverpool 3 - 0 Man City”, in BBC Sport‎^[2]:

     Carroll has been edging slowly towards full fitness after his expensive arrival from Newcastle United and his partnership with £23m Luis Suarez showed rich promise as Liverpool controlled affairs from start to finish.

3. (usually in the form 'just edge') To win by a small margin.
4. (cricket, transitive) To hit the ball with an edge of the bat, causing a fine deflection.
5. (transitive) To trim the margin of a lawn where the grass meets the sidewalk, usually with an electric or gas-powered lawn edger.
6. (transitive) To furnish with an edge; to construct an edging.
   • 2005, Paige Gilchrist, The Big Book of Backyard Projects: Walls, Fences, Paths, Patios, Benches, Chairs & More, Section 2: Paths and Walkways, page 181,

     If you're edging with stone, brick, or another material in a lawn area, set the upper surfaces of the edging just at or not more than ½ inch above ground level so it won't be an obstacle to lawn mowers.

7. (transitive) To furnish with an edge, as a tool or weapon; to sharpen.
   • 1690, [John] Dryden, Don Sebastian, King of Portugal: […], London: […] Jo. Hindmarsh, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):

     To edge her champion sword

8. (transitive) To form a border to; to enclose, to border.
   • 1924 June 4, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, chapter I, in A Passage to India, London: Edward Arnold & Co., →OCLC, part I (Mosque), page 5:

     Edged rather than washed by the river Ganges, it trails for a couple of miles along the bank, scarcely distinguishable from the rubbish it deposits so freely.

9. (figurative) To make sharp or keen; to incite; to exasperate; to goad; to urge or egg on.
   • a. 1628 (date written), John Hayward, The Life, and Raigne of King Edward the Sixt, London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press, and J. Lichfield at Oxford?] for Iohn Partridge, […], published 1630, →OCLC:

     By such reasonings, the simple were blinded, and the malicious edged.

10. (intransitive, transitive, slang) To intentionally stay or keep someone extremely close to the point of orgasm for a long period of time.

    Near-synonym: goon

    Jimmy has been edging for 6 hours straight; is his dick okay?

    • 2011, Nicholson Baker, House of Holes‎^[3], page 181:

      “I think of it as mine, but, yes, it's his cock I've been edging with. Do you edge?”

    • 2012, Ryan Field, Field of Dreams: The Very Best Stories of Ryan Field, page 44:

      His mouth was open and he was still jerking his dick. Justin knew he must have been edging by then.

    • 2016, Jenna Jacob, Lured By My Master: (The Doms of Genesis, Book 6):

      “I'm going to edge you all night long. That should take the sass out of you.”

11. (transitive, slang, figuratively) To agitate or exasperate (someone) due to constant delays of something.

    When are the developers going to release the update? They've been edging us for months with all of these trailers.

    They say no Internet is better than slow Internet, cause at least your browser doesn't edge you every time you try to load a page.

    • 2023 July 12, @northstardoll, Twitter‎^[4], archived from the original on 10 January 2024:

      situationships are like getting edged romantically

    • 2023 September 20, @TieflingMelissa, Twitter‎^[5], archived from the original on 10 January 2024:

      Chat's literally EDGING ME at this point with extending the subathon what the fuck 😭😭😭

    • 2023 October 9, @wdnos, Twitter‎^[6], archived from the original on 10 January 2024:

      i love when kanye edges me like this, he just keeps me wanting and begging for it.

    • 2023 December 6, @flwrphil, Twitter‎^[7], archived from the original on 10 January 2024:

      why do dnp feel the need to edge us with their uploading schedule? :/

    • 2024 January 4, @henryscdiaz, Twitter‎^[8], archived from the original on 10 January 2024:

      never been edged so successfully in my life because they've GOT me hooked

    • 2024 January 6, @sigmachomper, Twitter‎^[9], archived from the original on 10 January 2024:

      You people cannot keep edging me with my follower number, it keeps getting to like 775 before falling to 769 again 😭😭

• 1925, Walter Anthony and Tom Reed (titles), Rupert Julian (director), The Phantom of the Opera, silent movie

  In Mlle. Carlotta’s correspondence there appeared another letter, edged in black!

(See above.)

•   edge on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Mathworld article on the edges of polygons
• Mathworld article on the edges of polyhedra

• geed