border

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A strip forming the outer edge of something.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

bawrder

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈbɔɹdɚ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

A strip forming the outer edge of something
“The rug had a wide blue border.”
The boundary line or the area immediately inside the boundary
The line or frontier area separating political or geographical regions.
A decorative recessed or relieved surface on an edge
A decorative strip around the edge of something.
A strip of ground in which ornamental plants are grown.

verb

Form the boundary of; be contiguous to
Lie adjacent to another or share a boundary
intransitive
To approach; to come near to; to verge (with on or upon).
transitive
To form a border around; to bound.
transitive
To put a border on something.
transitive
To lie on, or adjacent to, a border of.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: B1 · Intermediate
Frequency: Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A strip forming the outer edge of something

Used this way, border is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence

“The rug had a wide blue border.”

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Common
Connotation: Matter-of-fact
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use border

“The rug had a wide blue border.”noun

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Boundary / line

border areanorthern bordersouthern border

Other combinations

border patrolbrush borderlower bordermexican borderwestern border

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

borderedadjectiveInflected form
Having a border especially of a specified kind.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

border patrolmannounCompound term
Someone who patrols the borders of a country.
border terriernounCompound term
Small rough-coated terrier of British origin.
border collienounCompound term
Developed in the area between Scotland and England usually having a black coat with white on the head and tip of tail used for herding both sheep and cattle.
border districtnounCompound term
District consisting of the area on either side of a border or boundary of a country or an area.
border onverbCompound term
Come near or verge on, resemble, come nearer in quality, or character.
border patrolnounCompound term
A group of officers who patrol the borders of a country.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: strip forming the outer edge of something

boundary lineedgeboundborderline

verb

Sense: form the boundary of

skirtedge

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.