verge
/vɜːd͡ʒ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.67 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "The shoulders are graded and the verges cleared well back to lessen the chances of hitting stray stock."
- "On the other side of the car, another armed officer was seen attending to the passenger, who was lying on a grassy verge."
- "I was on the verge of tears."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /vɜːd͡ʒ/
- British English: /vɜːd͡ʒ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
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