brink

See also: Brink

English

Etymology

From Middle English brinke, brenke, from Old Norse *brenka, brekka, from Proto-Germanic *brinkǭ, *brinkaz (“hill, edge (of land)”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰren- (“to project”). Cognate with Dutch brink (“grassland”), regional German Brink, Icelandic brekka (“slope”); also Tocharian B prenke (“island”), Irish braine (“prow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɪŋk/, [ˈbɹʷɪŋk]

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (pre-/ŋ/-tensing)
  • (Upper Midwestern US, Northwestern US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹiŋk/, [ˈbɹʷiŋk] ~ [ˈbɹʷɪ̝ŋk]
• (Appalachia, African-American Vernacular, thank-think merger)
  • (without /æ/ raising) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹæŋk/, [ˈbɹʷæŋk]
  • (/æ/ raising) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹeɪ̯ŋk/, [ˈbɹʷeɪ̯ŋk]; /ˈbɹɛ̃ŋk/, [ˈbɹʷɛ̃ŋk]
• Rhymes: -ɪŋk
• Hyphenation: brink

Noun

brink (plural brinks)

1. The edge, margin, or border of a