1The edge of a knife.

1. 1.1as modifier (of creases or pleats in a garment) very fine.
   knife-edge creases

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Gypsy dirndls, knife-edge pleats and rich colour mixes don't often work for me, but in his hands the results were masterly, with the Romany effect tempered by stringently tailored ruffled jackets.
2. 1.2in singular A tense or uncertain situation, especially one finely balanced between success and failure.
   they have been living on a knife edge since his libel action

   Example sentencesExamples

   • York was on a knife-edge tonight as the city's flood defences faced their toughest test following the continuing deluge.
   • If you don't back your files up, especially if you're a very small business, you're living on a knife-edge.
   • Services in many rural areas are now on a knife-edge.
   • Hopes of settling the bitter firefighters' dispute were on a knife-edge last night after union leaders issued a new deadline for reaching a deal.
   • In what was described as a knife-edge decision, the members of the board voted by four votes to two in favour of the transfer.
   • With the presidential election poised on a knife-edge, both camps have turned their attention not only to the key mid-western battlegrounds but also to the south-western states of the US.
   • This week's interest-rate decision by the Bank of England's monetary policy committee is on a knife-edge, amid further evidence that the economy is weakening.
   • The livelihoods of 6,000 people are on a knife-edge, as they wait to be told if Rover can continue as a going concern.
   • House prices look to be on a knife-edge but, whatever happens to the property market, they look set to remain the nation's favourite topic of discussion for a while longer.
   • Median incomes may be higher than the national average but many of the young families in these areas are on a financial knife-edge as a result of huge mortgages.
   • The court was told that, amid a falling property market and rising construction costs, the whole development was on a knife-edge.
   • The economy is still on a knife-edge and there is growing popular discontent with falling living standards and the lack of basic democratic rights.
   • Gas supplies, however, are on a knife-edge and any problem, including minor equipment breakdowns or higher summer temperatures, will produce immediate cuts.
   • ‘The timing could not be more critical, the trade talks are on a knife-edge and we need to see leadership from the EU,’ she added.
   • Continued price wars between supermarkets could place the fragile recovery of British agriculture on a knife-edge again.
   • During the winter of 1831-32, the nation stood on a knife-edge.
   • This is going to be the most knife-edge election for a long, long time.
   • After a year of falling markets, the US economy is now on a knife-edge.
   • Meanwhile, flood-threatened parts of North Yorkshire remained on a knife-edge today, waiting for river levels to reach their peaks following record rainfalls.
   • O'Neill converted to give the Vikings a 14-10 lead before Cooke added a penalty to put the game on a knife-edge at half-time.

   Synonyms

   tense, charged, highly charged, overwrought
3. 1.3 A steel wedge on which a pendulum or other device oscillates or is balanced.
4. 1.4 A narrow, sharp ridge; an arête.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • We dropped our packs and did a fast recon up to the base of Koh-i-Bardar to find our line: a steep couloir to a knife-edge ridge to the summit.
   • Aeons ago, rivers of ice carved out the unforgettable landforms - knife-edge ridges, hanging valley, and towering peaks, every view a visual aria.
   • After another couple of hours, we made our way gradually along a knife-edge ridge, careful to stay off the cornice which hung over a spectacular 1,000 metre drop to our right.
   • When I caught up with Bryan, he was gingerly backstepping along a knife-edge arête.