I. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a cliff edge
▪
Keep away from the cliff edge.
be on the verge/edge of a nervous breakdown (= to be very close to having a nervous breakdown )
▪
These events left her on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
competitive edge (= its ability to compete well )
▪
The team seems to have lost its competitive edge recently .
cutting edge
▪
research that’s at the cutting edge of genetic science
edge city
give...a cutting edge
▪
The team are relying on Gregg to give them a cutting edge .
hint/trace/edge/touch of sarcasm
▪
There was just a touch of sarcasm in her voice.
jagged edge
▪
the broken bottle’s jagged edge
on the edge of a precipice
▪
The stock market is on the edge of a precipice .
poised on the brink/edge of sth
▪
The economy is poised on the edge of collapse.
sb's nerves are on edge (= they feel nervous or worried about what might happen )
▪
His nerves were on edge as he entered the dark room.
serrated edge
▪
Use a knife with a serrated edge .
the edge of an abyss
▪
At that time Bosnia was standing on the edge of an abyss .
the outskirts/edge of a town
▪
It was six o'clock when she reached the outskirts of the town.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
competitive
▪
Mr Coleridge inherits a market that has made some sensible moves to improve its competitive edge .
▪
They would dilute the quality of his product, blunting a competitive edge .
▪
There seemed to be very little wrong with his competitive edge , or his nerve.
▪
They have a competitive edge in larger buying power, enabling them to acquire stock at prices way below the small independents.
▪
On the contrary, much of it - the taxation proposals in particular - is calculated to sacrifice our competitive edge .
▪
They achieve the competitive edge because everyone is helping to achieve it.
▪
What is the competitive edge which the company has and is this sustainable?
▪
Great training for life in the U. S. Gives you that competitive edge .
eastern
▪
Built for horse carts, it linked the eastern edge of the village with the fields.
▪
The Constellation crashed on Auchinweet Farm, on the eastern edge of Tarbolton parish, about 5 miles east of the airport.
▪
Or so it was until the white man first appeared, out of the forests on the grasslands' eastern edge .
▪
About 1,000 protesters, many from groups that were active in Seattle, demonstrated at the eastern edge of the village.
▪
The campus is located on the eastern edge of Walt Disney World.
▪
Ostermark Ostermark is a large and mostly rural province, lying at the north eastern edge of the Empire.
▪
I headed back toward the eastern edge of town.
hard
▪
X100's body will be rounded and sculpted, with soft, flowing lines and no hard edges or chrome highlights.
▪
The demonstrations, meanwhile, began to take on a harder edge in recent weeks.
▪
They still play honest hard rock, but now it sounds fresher and has thousands of hard edges .
▪
She remains gutsy throughout presenting a harder edge to previous Ritas I have seen.
▪
He had a hard edge to his voice.
▪
Flats are suitable for larger strokes, holding a good charge of pigment and are good for hard edges .
▪
Her smile broadened, lost its hard edge .
▪
These can be made tighter by running the material over a hard edge to squeeze the coils.
jagged
▪
Flames leapt hundreds of feet high, illuminating the jagged edges of the blocks.
▪
There are too many jagged edges to the Clinton experience, too many highs and lows.
▪
At one corner, a large chunk had been knocked out completely, leaving a nasty, jagged edge .
▪
If you constantly catch your clothes on a jagged counter edge , sand it down.
▪
The shaman broke the bones with his bare hands, and used the jagged edges to scratch at his bark.
▪
When such trend lines are smoothed, the jagged edges are sawn off.
▪
Some of the major new features include TrueType, which can create type of varying sizes without any jagged edges .
▪
For the moment it may have smoothed or at least covered the jagged edges between the two sides.
leading
▪
The weaving yarn should always be on the leading edge of the carriage.
▪
One that balances leading edge technological capability with a thorough understanding of your business.
▪
Add a border or binding down the leading and bottom edges of curtains for a real interior designer touch.
▪
Flap extension automatically selects drooping leading edge down.
▪
Position this end to the leading edges of the lining.
▪
The rearmost sections of the leading edges might be detached from the joining ferrules.
▪
So it pays to arrange the squares at right angles to the leading edges or at right angles to the spine.
▪
Two points on the spine were used as bridle attachments and a third at the cross-spar connection to the leading edge .
northern
▪
We have already seen that tunnels at the northern edge of the High Wood were used as the Library of the system.
▪
So Elizondo remains in the Wynne prison unit on the northern edge of Huntsville, Texas.
▪
A strong anomaly near Broadclyst is probably caused by the northern edge of a concealed southward-dipping lava sheet.
▪
At its peak last week, about 500 people were camping in the woods on the northern edge of Lake County.
▪
The wind sock was on the northern edge .
▪
At the time, it lay on the northern edge of Baltimore Town.
▪
Beyond, the huge sea cliffs of the northern edge of Heimæy form a sharp ridge that offers an airy walk.
▪
The winds from the northern edge of Hugo whipped tourist communities around Myrtle Beach.
outer
▪
Finish the semi-circle with a strip of hardboard nailed to the outer edges of the plywood arch.
▪
Beyond Lovettsville, on the outer edge of my universe, lay Brunswick.
▪
A strip of the relevant colour appears on the outer edge of each page within the sections.
▪
He would for ever inhabit this ragged outer edge with me.
▪
By the standards of the Dubrovlag she had a nice home, a two-bedroomed bungalow on the outer edge of the village.
▪
Uneven as the crowd was, my path had taken me close to an outer edge near the earliest assigned parking area.
▪
Impressively blackened rocks loomed large, their outer edges darkly green against the frothy white-capped waves.
▪
This is a term for small vee cuts through both pieces of fabric on the outer edge .
raw
▪
Turn under the raw edge of the top seam allowance and tack in place over the trimmed edge.
▪
Turn in the raw edges of both seam allowances towards each other and match the folded edges.
▪
In a week or so weather and growth would have sealed up again all the raw edges that betrayed its use.
▪
With raw edges level, tack bias strip around neck edge with ends on top of facing.
▪
Neaten outer edge of bias strip or turn under raw edge.
▪
To make a plain seam, place two pieces of fabric together with right sides facing and with raw edges level.
▪
Trim the raw edges of the fabric with pinking shears.
▪
Fans and reviewers enjoyed the raw edge and revelled in the energy and melody thrown out of the guitar crashing mayhem.
rough
▪
Although he sometimes rounded the rough edges off the truth, he remained an amusing raconteur and lively company.
▪
They were the pioneers willing to accept the rough edges of life on the technological frontier.
▪
Unpredictable, emotional and alive, it is, in keeping with the area, soul with the rough edges intact.
▪
But the Florentine School had not polished away her rough edges .
▪
He writes catchy tunes with lavish pop hooks and huge slices of melody. Rough edges are few and far between.
▪
He managed to smooth away his rougher edges .
▪
Too much pressure, and you get a rough edge .
▪
Early rough edges refined in the studio and the power never drags.
sharp
▪
Again do not round over the sharp edges when sanding.
▪
Every aspect of my real estate practice presents sharp edges , you see.
▪
She has a sharp cutting edge and woe betide the Europhile who treads on her toes.
▪
Use an emery board to smooth sharp edges that could cut an adjacent toe.
▪
Avoid items with sharp edges or the potential to trap fish.
▪
I could see the metal barrel of a pistol, or the sharp edge of an army knife.
▪
It needed a really sharp edge and just a light brushing with the cutter to form some of these parts.
▪
The wound is of linear character with sharp edges .
southern
▪
From the southern edge of this inland sea, it is only a short haul over the mountains to Los Angeles.
▪
It sat at the southern edge of San Salvador on land that had once held a garbage dump.
▪
In 1754, further burials were discovered during the rebuilding of Kate's Cabin at the southern edge of the extra-mural area.
▪
As we rounded the lake's southern edge and moved up to the eastern shore, a faint tinkle filled the air.
▪
The Lights of Lisbon at the southern edge of the Alfama district was one of his favourite places.
▪
Eight miles North-west from Oxford on the southern edge of the Cotswolds is Woodstock.
▪
After this, the path follows the southern edge of the estuary.
▪
And even from the mainland there appeared to be a distinctly vertiginous southern edge to the island.
top
▪
He tried the hook, got a top edge and it went for two over the keeper's head.
▪
It had a nasty, disfiguring stain running along the whole of the top edge .
▪
Pin top edges of valance and lining together and drawstitch the folded edges together.
▪
Stitch braid to the top edge of the swag between the pleats.
▪
The ends can be shaped and the whole thing cleaned up, but leave the top edge until the jointing is complete.
▪
Cut out long thin strips for trimming around the top edge of the boat and fix on with a dampened paint brush.
▪
Pin the pleats as previously planned and hand stitch securely in position, close to top edge .
▪
Stitch braid to the outline of the pleats, covering stitching along top edge .
very
▪
He sat down again on the very edge of the chair and they drank the tea in silence.
▪
At their very edges the sea encroaches far in at roughly twelve and a half hour intervals, and then retreats.
▪
In Britain, at the very edge of its breeding range, it is living under less than optimum conditions.
▪
They plunged over the very edge of the human capacity to feel.
▪
The monastery has a beautiful situation, on the very edge of the river Olt in fine mountain country.
▪
Loretta perched herself uncomfortably on the very edge of the jacket.
▪
Now the dim light gave Manville a very slight edge , for he was in cover and his adversaries were not.
▪
But equally you can create suspense out of going to the very edge .
western
▪
Based as it is on the north western edge of Snowdonia the centre is an ideal base for all kinds of climbing.
▪
It was Cape Noir, at the western edge of Tierra del Fuego.
▪
Omaha, which less than two years before had struck her as the absolute dropping-off place, the western edge of nowhere.
▪
Romni, at the western edge of the Pale, was not spared.
▪
Use the path along the western edge of Blea Tarn to join the Wrynose Pass road.
■ NOUN
knife
▪
They had known they were on the knife edge , and interest rates had been at 8 percent.
▪
It's balanced on a knife edge .
▪
Wood is also reasonably kind to the knife edge .
▪
The news was a body blow and for several months the company was on a knife edge .
▪
He was dressed in casual wear: grey sweater and slacks with knife edge creases.
■ VERB
give
▪
Hybrid yields are high enough to give varieties a marketing edge .
▪
Smith said, giving Hoffman that edge .
▪
It takes the cyberpunk circus routines of Archaos and gives then a high-tech edge .
▪
Some are focussing on areas such as swaps and derivatives, which can give them an edge in the primary bond market.
▪
The goal is to customize content for a California audience, a feature that Pac Bell hopes will give it an edge .
▪
A benefits package is a very marketable advantage, one that Trope hopes will give them the edge over other independent labels.
live
▪
We lived on the edge of the ditch.
▪
His normal expectation was to live on the edge of starvation.
▪
People seemed to be living on the edge of their nerves.
▪
It was great -- people living on the edge , skiing every day, partying.
▪
Witches always lived on the edges of things.
▪
People lived at the edge of the forest or made clearings in it.
▪
Customers willing to live on the edge purchased approximately seventy-two thousand units.
lose
▪
McEnroe, who lost a tough match with Stefano Pescosolido, 7-6 1-6 6-4, said he was losing his mental edge .
▪
In later years Winthrop lost his gentle edge and firm hold.
▪
There is no sign that Silicon Valley is losing its innovative edge .
▪
Only in the last chapters does the book lose some of its edge .
▪
News at Ten was not exactly sinking, but it was generally agreed it had lost its edge .
▪
I lost the edges of myself and began to soak into the floorboards.
▪
Subsequent releases lost that initial edge , as the band looked to more complex expressions of their art.
▪
He also writes of how his illness changed him, how this worldly man gained a spirituality without losing his edge .
perch
▪
She perched on the edge of the sofa, gazing into the mock flames from the gas fire.
▪
From the moment he took the rostrum, Gergiev had his musicians tensely perched on the edge of their seats.
▪
He swung his legs around so that he was perched on the edge of the bunk.
▪
Chesarynth perched on the edge of her seat, fearing a poisoned needle in the cushions.
▪
She perched at its edge and let her pen, as was her wont, run automatically over the creamy paper.
▪
Bobbie was perched on the edge of the couch.
▪
He cast around for a chair, shoved some papers aside with a foot and perched on the edge of an armchair.
▪
She sidled cautiously towards the equipment, and perched on the edge of a deep mahogany box.
sit
▪
De Nesle sat down on the edge of the desk and picked up the coffee cup.
▪
He got me to sit on the edge of my oak dresser, and then he walked into me.
▪
He swung himself to sit on the edge of the bed, and dropped his head in his hands.
▪
Riker threw me the box and walked back to sit on the edge of the cargo deck.
▪
He sat on the edge of the bed and dialled his office number.
▪
She liked him to sit on the edge and talk to her.
▪
The small village, no more than 20 wooden and canvas shacks, sat on the edge of a coastal inlet.
▪
I sit on the edge of the padded table, naked, and stare at the envelope.
stand
▪
Martin was standing at the furthermost edge of the terrace, looking over the gardens and down to the sea.
▪
She stands at the edge of the crowd.
▪
Turn around. Stand on the edge .
▪
They were kindly asked to stand at the edge of a knee-deep ditch.
▪
Dunvegan Castle stands on the edge of the sea, and looks up along the long narrow Loch Dunvegan to the north-west.
▪
Let my dad kidnap me, he pleaded as he stood at the edge of the driveway.
▪
I stood at the edge of the drive, out of sight of the approaching runner.
▪
The only gas station stood at the edge of town.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be on a razor/razor's edge
be on the ragged edge
be teetering on the brink/edge of sth
▪
The country is teetering on the brink of a massive financial crisis.
▪
A moment later, realising she was teetering on the brink of self-pity, she brought herself up short.
▪
As the piece opens, he is in an internment camp, and she is teetering on the edge of madness.
▪
He says that the country is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
▪
He was teetering on the brink of something serious.
▪
If it were as bad as its critics contend, our society would be teetering on the edge of extinction.
▪
Now he was teetering on the edge of the parapet.
▪
We are teetering on the edge of farce.
▪
Wednesday morning, during an hourlong session with reporters, Forbes appeared to be teetering on the edge of folding his campaign.
have rough edges
▪
The play still has a few rough edges, but by next week it should be all right.
leading edge
▪
the leading edge of a plane's wing
▪
To survive, companies must stay on the leading edge of technology.
▪
By having an aerodynamic, efficient leading edge.
▪
One that balances leading edge technological capability with a thorough understanding of your business.
▪
Part of it went upwards perforating the leading edge of the fin in several places.
▪
Somehow, he accomplishes it and keeps doing work at the leading edge.
▪
That so weakened the plane that the fuselage broke in two, just forward of the leading edge of the wings.
▪
The weaving yarn should always be on the leading edge of the carriage.
▪
When curtains are to butt together, plan to have a half space at each leading edge.
▪
When glass fibre tubular spars were standard practice, leading edge distortion would form an otherwise straight line into a swan-neck shape!
on the edge of your seat
▪
Chesarynth perched on the edge of her seat , fearing a poisoned needle in the cushions.
▪
From the moment he took the rostrum, Gergiev had his musicians tensely perched on the edge of their seats .
▪
He was waiting for her answer, not exactly on the edge of his seat , though.
▪
This dramatic opening had me on the edge of my seat !
▪
This keeps you on the edge of your seat .
▪
We're on the edge of our seats .
raw edge
▪
Fans and reviewers enjoyed the raw edge and revelled in the energy and melody thrown out of the guitar crashing mayhem.
▪
In a week or so weather and growth would have sealed up again all the raw edges that betrayed its use.
▪
Neaten outer edge of bias strip or turn under raw edge.
▪
To make a plain seam, place two pieces of fabric together with right sides facing and with raw edges level.
▪
Trim the raw edges of the fabric with pinking shears.
▪
Turn in the raw edges of both seam allowances towards each other and match the folded edges.
▪
Turn under the raw edge of the top seam allowance and tack in place over the trimmed edge.
▪
With raw edges level, tack bias strip around neck edge with ends on top of facing.
set sb's teeth on edge
▪
His high-pitched squeaky voice set my teeth on edge.
▪
At other times their self-evident frustration sets your teeth on edge.
▪
He w as filing arrow heads, and the sound of the metal on the whetstone set Burun's teeth on edge.
▪
It was all done so genteelly that it set McAllister's teeth on edge.
▪
That set our teeth on edge and bring our goose pimples rising like porpoises after mackerel.
the cutting edge (of sth)
▪
Amazingly, he accomplished that while dancing on the cutting edge.
▪
As president of a modeling agency, Page Parkes follows the cutting edge.
▪
But the cutting edge doesn't come cheap.
▪
In fact, this white-owned company was often on the cutting edge of new directions.
▪
Settlement houses and settlement house workers were at the cutting edge of social change.
▪
The decade's retreat from the cutting edge is certainly in evidence.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
A group of children were playing at the water's edge .
▪
Don't put your glass so close to the edge of the table.
▪
Gretel lives in a simple cottage on the edge of the forest.
▪
He set the ashtray down on the edge of the table.
▪
Keep away from the edge of the cliff - you might fall.
▪
My uncle's house is on the edge of town near the freeway.
▪
Some athletes lose their edge by their mid-20s.
▪
The edges of the carpet were torn.
▪
The plates have blue lines around the edges.
▪
There's an enormous oak tree at the edge of the garden.
▪
We camped right at the edge of the desert.
▪
You'll need a knife with a very sharp edge .
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
Don't measure the edge of your knitting as this is inaccurate.
▪
Not only did I have loops at the edge , but seven or eight stitches actually leapt off the needles.
▪
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and went over to the window to look down at the courtyard.
▪
Then she pulled the old one out and threw it away, over the edge of the roof.
▪
There was a strong sweet earthy smell from the slopes of soil around its edges.
▪
When she recovered she was holding on to the edge of the table for balance.
▪
You know, I wonder, could we, could I try to sand out the edges here?
II. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
ahead
▪
Newcastle edged ahead again in the 31st minute when defender Kevin Scott hooked home from close range.
away
▪
Gathering up our two young children, we edged away upstream to the cover of some trees.
▪
Tom wanted to edge away from them.
▪
Moderate Republicans in Congress are quietly edging away from Mr Bush.
▪
Once the pack was unleashed again it developed into a two-horse race with Schumacher edging away from Hakkinen.
▪
She couldn't even edge away .
closer
▪
I edged closer as we talked.
▪
I edged closer to her, and joined in.
▪
But it was edging closer to Trent, always a little closer.
down
▪
The Inspector edged down the confined passage into the living room which looked out on to a neat back garden.
▪
Shares of Westinghouse edged down 1 / 4 to 18 1 / 8.
▪
Interest rates have edged down , and more banks are switching to variable interest rates pegged to their prime lending rate.
▪
They came edging down to look it over.
forward
▪
As he edged forward , Sendei glanced up occasionally at the far end.
▪
We scraped along, edged forward , bumping into one another, feeling our way deeper and deeper into the church.
▪
He edged forward in a trance and, as he did so, the light in the room was switched off.
▪
He edged forward a few steps, using the flashlight as a probe.
▪
At first we could see nothing so crouched on our haunches, edging forward like crabs, feeling the soft woollen carpet.
▪
Cars were edging forward with barely controlled impatience to the steady whiplash accompaniment of their windscreen wipers.
▪
He edged forward , tapped the smoker gently on the shoulder, and punched him.
▪
He edged forward nervously, the rock raised in his hand.
up
▪
Wall Street edged up 0.9% and the world index gained 1.2%.
▪
We edged up along a steep, snowy ridge and over the heaven-scraped granite to the top.
▪
As the national minimum wage was edged up , so the position altered.
▪
Load factor edged up to 52. 2 % from 51. 4 %.
▪
Northern Rock closed at 463p on the first day of trading in October 1997 and have edged up marginally to about 513p.
▪
November output edged up a preliminary 0. 1 % from October but tumbled 3. 7 % from November 1994.
▪
Shares in Morgan edged up 1p to 469p last night.
▪
CompUSA edged up 3 / 4 to 33 7 / 8.
■ NOUN
way
▪
Pressed against the wall so she couldn't be seen, Marie edged her way , very quietly, towards the pill-box.
▪
By Rockville Centre I was at the first car, casually edging my way t6ward the door.
▪
With shared relief they edged their way back and then at last down the circular stair.
▪
And the other women, sensing trouble, immediately began to edge their way out of the picture.
▪
Nick slipped off his clothes and edged his way into the water.
▪
New terminologies were not difficult to master, and gradually the possibility of perfection began edging its way into my life.
▪
He edged his way to the kitchen door and could see a black profile through the frosted glass.
▪
There were certainly more people than she had expected as they edged their way into the crowded lounge.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be on a razor/razor's edge
be on the ragged edge
have rough edges
▪
The play still has a few rough edges, but by next week it should be all right.
leading edge
▪
the leading edge of a plane's wing
▪
To survive, companies must stay on the leading edge of technology.
▪
By having an aerodynamic, efficient leading edge.
▪
One that balances leading edge technological capability with a thorough understanding of your business.
▪
Part of it went upwards perforating the leading edge of the fin in several places.
▪
Somehow, he accomplishes it and keeps doing work at the leading edge.
▪
That so weakened the plane that the fuselage broke in two, just forward of the leading edge of the wings.
▪
The weaving yarn should always be on the leading edge of the carriage.
▪
When curtains are to butt together, plan to have a half space at each leading edge.
▪
When glass fibre tubular spars were standard practice, leading edge distortion would form an otherwise straight line into a swan-neck shape!
on the edge of your seat
▪
Chesarynth perched on the edge of her seat , fearing a poisoned needle in the cushions.
▪
From the moment he took the rostrum, Gergiev had his musicians tensely perched on the edge of their seats .
▪
He was waiting for her answer, not exactly on the edge of his seat , though.
▪
This dramatic opening had me on the edge of my seat !
▪
This keeps you on the edge of your seat .
▪
We're on the edge of our seats .
raw edge
▪
Fans and reviewers enjoyed the raw edge and revelled in the energy and melody thrown out of the guitar crashing mayhem.
▪
In a week or so weather and growth would have sealed up again all the raw edges that betrayed its use.
▪
Neaten outer edge of bias strip or turn under raw edge.
▪
To make a plain seam, place two pieces of fabric together with right sides facing and with raw edges level.
▪
Trim the raw edges of the fabric with pinking shears.
▪
Turn in the raw edges of both seam allowances towards each other and match the folded edges.
▪
Turn under the raw edge of the top seam allowance and tack in place over the trimmed edge.
▪
With raw edges level, tack bias strip around neck edge with ends on top of facing.
set sb's teeth on edge
▪
His high-pitched squeaky voice set my teeth on edge.
▪
At other times their self-evident frustration sets your teeth on edge.
▪
He w as filing arrow heads, and the sound of the metal on the whetstone set Burun's teeth on edge.
▪
It was all done so genteelly that it set McAllister's teeth on edge.
▪
That set our teeth on edge and bring our goose pimples rising like porpoises after mackerel.
the cutting edge (of sth)
▪
Amazingly, he accomplished that while dancing on the cutting edge.
▪
As president of a modeling agency, Page Parkes follows the cutting edge.
▪
But the cutting edge doesn't come cheap.
▪
In fact, this white-owned company was often on the cutting edge of new directions.
▪
Settlement houses and settlement house workers were at the cutting edge of social change.
▪
The decade's retreat from the cutting edge is certainly in evidence.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
Edging my way through the crowd, I eventually managed to get to the bar.
▪
As he edged closer, Jan became more nervous.
▪
Billy edged along the ledge, trying not to look down.
▪
Fontes edged Gibbs in the voting for NFL Coach of the Year.
▪
He kept an eye on me as he edged across the room.
▪
I started edging towards the door, hoping to slip away unnoticed.
▪
Mervyn edged sideways through the front door, which seemed to be stuck.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
I brush the sleeve of her kimono as I edge past.
▪
Ross Perot edges ever closer to declaring himself the candidate of his new Reform Party.
▪
The action reversed a trend in which the two countries appeared to be edging ever so slightly toward increased cooperation.
▪
Then he edged a ball into his pad and some one made a stifled appeal.
▪
There were a few trees edging the pavement, but they were an urban stock, twisted and stunted by city poisons.