From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthe brink (of something)the brink (of something)ALMOSTa situation when you are almost in a new situation, usually a bad oneon the brink of death/disaster/war etc In October 1962 the world seemed on the brink of nuclear war. The company had huge debts and was on the brink of collapse.to the brink (of something) managers who have taken their companies to the brink of disasterback from the brink (of something) He will go down in history as the leader who pulled us back from the brink (=saved us from disaster). → brink
Examples from the Corpus
back from the brink (of something)• Several species have come back from the brink of extinction.• Polly drew herself back from the brink.• Some essential honesty about it brings it back from the brink.• As long as the Dodgers remained the Dodgers, there was hope baseball could pull itself back from the brink.• In a television address, he called on deputies to pull back from the brink.• Arlington Mill is one of those mills that was pulled back from the brink of destruction in the nick of time.• But some sort of step back from the brink was essential.the brink of somethingthe brink of somethingliteraryEDGE the edge of a very high place such as a cliff → brinkExamples from the Corpus
the brink of something• Such vehicles appear to be at the brink of feasibility because of a rapidly maturing technology, the hydrogen-burning fuel cell.• Just when she had been on the brink of despair, one of her rich customers had given her a handsome order.• Her lips parted - trembling - as she hovered on the brink of speech.• Their house was perched on the brink of a canyon.• Oxford began the night teetering on the brink of the relegation zone and pulse rates soared as early as the second minute.• The country was on the brink of war; uncertainty permeated every aspect of daily life.• Wells was on the brink of death by consumption when his early work appeared.• One was summoned to the brink of the black. 