Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Edge

Edge

(ĕj)
,
Noun.
[OE.
eg
,
egge
, AS.
ecg
; akin to OHG.
ekka
, G.
ecke
, Icel. & Sw.
egg
, Dan.
eg
, and to L.
acies
, Gr.
ἀκή
point, Skr.
açri
edge. √1. Cf.
Egg
,
Verb.
T.
,
Eager
,
Ear
spike of corn,
Acute
.]
1.
The thin cutting side of the blade of an instrument;
as, the
edge
of an ax, knife, sword, or scythe
.
Hence,
(figuratively)
,
That which cuts as an edge does, or wounds deeply, etc.
He which hath the sharp sword with two
edges
.
Rev. ii. 12.
Slander,
Whose
edge
is sharper than the sword.
Shakespeare
2.
Any sharp terminating border; a margin; a brink; extreme verge;
as, the
edge
of a table, a precipice
.
Upon the
edge
of yonder coppice.
Shakespeare
In worst extremes, and on the perilous
edge

Of battle.
Milton.
Pursue even to the very
edge
of destruction.
Sir W. Scott.
3.
Sharpness; readiness or fitness to cut; keenness; intenseness of desire.
The full
edge
of our indignation.
Sir W. Scott.
Death and persecution lose all the ill that they can have, if we do not set an
edge
upon them by our fears and by our vices.
Jer. Taylor.
4.
The border or part adjacent to the line of division; the beginning or early part;
as, in the
edge
of evening
.
“On the edge of winter.”
Milton.

Edge

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Edged
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Edging
.]
1.
To furnish with an edge as a tool or weapon; to sharpen.
To
edge
her champion’s sword.
Dryden.
2.
To shape or dress the edge of, as with a tool.
3.
To furnish with a fringe or border;
as, to
edge
a dress; to
edge
a garden with box.
Hills whose tops were
edged
with groves.
Pope.
4.
To make sharp or keen, figuratively; to incite; to exasperate; to goad; to urge or egg on.
[Obs.]
By such reasonings, the simple were blinded, and the malicious
edged
.
Hayward.
5.
To move by little and little or cautiously, as by pressing forward edgewise;
as,
edging
their chairs forwards
.
Locke.

Edge

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To move sideways; to move gradually;
as,
edge
along this way
.
2.
To sail close to the wind.
I must
edge
up on a point of wind.
Dryden.
To edge away
or
To edge off
(Naut.)
,
to increase the distance gradually from the shore, vessel, or other object.
–
To edge down
(Naut.)
,
to approach by slow degrees, as when a sailing vessel approaches an object in an oblique direction from the windward.
–
To edge in
,
to get in edgewise; to get in by degrees.
–
To edge in with
,
as with a coast or vessel
(Naut.)
, to advance gradually, but not directly, toward it.

Webster 1828 Edition


Edge

EDGE

,
Noun.
[L. acies, acus.]
1.
In a general sense, the extreme border or point of any thing; as the edge of the table; the edge of a book; the edge of cloth. It coincides nearly with border, brink, margin. It is particularly applied to the sharp border, the thin cutting extremity of an instrument, as the edge of an ax, razor, knife or scythe; also, to the point of an instrument, as the edge of a sword.
2.
Figuratively, that which cuts or penetrates; that which wounds or injures; as the edge of slander.
3.
A narrow part rising from a broader.
Some harrow their ground over, and then plow it upon an edge.
4.
Sharpness of mind or appetite; keenness; intenseness of desire; fitness for action or operation; as the edge of appetite or hunger.
Silence and solitude set an edge on the genius.
5.
Keenness; sharpness; acrimony.
Abate the edge of traitors.
To set the teeth on edge, to cause a tingling or grating sensation in the teeth.

EDGE

, v.t.
1.
To sharpen.
To edge her champion's sword.
2.
To furnish with an edge.
A sword edged with flint.
3.
To border; to fringe.
A long descending train,
With rubies edged.
4.
To border; to furnish with an ornamental border; as, to edge a flower-bed with box.
5.
To sharpen; to exasperate; to embitter.
By such reasonings,the simple were blinded, and the malicious edged.
6.
To incite; to provoke; to urge on; to instigate; that is, to push on as with a sharp point; to goad. Ardor or passion will edge a man forward,when arguments fail.
7.
To move sideways; to move by little and little; as, edge your chair along.

EDGE

,
Verb.
I.
To move sideways; to move gradually. Edge along this way.
1.
To sail close to the wind.
To edge away, in sailing, is to decline gradually from the shore or from the line of the course.
To edge in with, to draw near to, as a ship in chasing.