Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Brink

Brink (brink) , noun

[Danish brink edge, verge; akin to Swedish brink declivity, hill, Icelandic brekka; compare LG. brink a grassy hill, Welsh bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]

The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Figuratively
The brink of vice. — Bp. Porteus
The brink of ruin. — Burke
The plashy brink of weedy lake. — Bryant