English Reference
Idiom idiom

live on the edge


To have an adventurous or perilous lifestyle; to behave in a manner which creates risks for oneself.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.


SIMPLE

He likes to live on the edge by riding his motorcycle fast.

CONTEXTUAL

She quit her steady job to start a new business, choosing to live on the edge for a while.

COMPLEX

By investing his entire savings into a volatile market, he chose to live on the edge, fully aware that he could lose everything in a single day.


Related idioms8entries
  1. 01

    bleeding edge

    Something too new and untested to be reliable or to have any assurance of safety; the figurative place where such things exist.

  2. 02

    cutting edge

    The forefront, or position of greatest advancement in some field.

  3. 03

    die the way one lived

    To die because of or after doing something characteristic of oneself, especially something that one enjoyed doing.

  4. 04

    edge of the earth

    A very remote place.

  5. 05

    edge of the world

    A very remote place.

  6. 06

    edge out

    To defeat in a contest or a game by a narrow margin of victory.

  7. 07

    live a lie

    To conceal something about oneself, without the knowledge of which others cannot know one's true character or perspective.

  8. 08

    live and die by

    Be completely reliant upon.

Last updated August 10, 2026