# fringe

Pronunciation: say "FRINJ" /fɹɪnd͡ʒ/

## Noun

1. A decorative border or edging, as on fabric, a garment, or a picture.
   - Simple: A border added to the edge of something to make it look nice.
   - _She sewed a beaded fringe along the hem of her dance costume._
   - _He bought a suede jacket with long fringes hanging from the sleeves._
2. The members of a political party or other social group who hold extreme or unorthodox views.
   - Simple: The people in a political party or group whose views are extreme or unusual.
   - _The party's leaders worked hard to distance themselves from its radical fringe._
   - _The senator dismissed the protesters as a noisy fringe that didn't speak for most party members._
3. Hair hanging over the forehead, especially in a style where it is cut straight across; bangs. *(UK)*
   - Simple: Hair that hangs over your forehead, especially when it is cut straight across.
   - _She walked out of the salon with a blunt fringe that skimmed her eyebrows._
   - _Heavy fringes were everywhere that season, from the catwalks to the high street._
5. A marginal or peripheral part of something, lying away from its center or core.
   - Simple: The outer edge or least important part of something.
   - _For years she worked on the fringes of the film industry, writing scripts nobody produced._
   - _The proposal touched only the fringe of the problem and left its core untouched._
6. The outer edge or periphery of an area, especially of a town or city.
   - Simple: The outer edge of an area, especially of a town or city.
   - _New housing developments are spreading along the northern fringe of the city._
   - _The railroad skirts the fringes of the national park without ever entering it._
9. A border or edging of any kind, such as a strip of trees along a field.
   - Simple: A line of something that forms an edge or border.
   - _A narrow fringe of pines separated the highway from the lake._
   - _The old man's bald head was circled by a fringe of white hair._
10. A group of people who sit at the edges of a larger community.
   - Simple: A small group of people at the edge of a larger group or community.
   - _The bookshop became a meeting place for the town's literary fringe._
   - _The movement drew its first recruits from the restless fringe of the city's youth._
11. Theater that lies outside the mainstream.
   - Simple: Plays and shows that are outside the main, popular kind of theater.
   - _The play began life on the fringe and transferred to a major stage two years later._
   - _Thousands of performers head to the Edinburgh Fringe each summer, hoping to be noticed._
12. The area immediately surrounding the green on a golf course.
   - Simple: The area of grass right around the green on a golf course.
   - _From the fringe, she chose to putt rather than chip, and the ball rolled to within a foot of the hole._
   - _Groundskeepers mow the fringe a little higher than the green itself._
13. One of the light or dark bands produced when light is diffracted.
   - Simple: A light or dark stripe made when light bends around edges or passes through tiny gaps.
   - _Light passing through two narrow slits produced a row of evenly spaced fringes on the wall._
   - _By counting how far each fringe shifted, the researchers measured a change in the mirror's position._
14. A segment of the broadcast day that comes before or after prime time.
   - Simple: The part of the TV or radio day just before or after the most-watched evening hours.
   - _The syndicated quiz show performed well in early fringe, drawing viewers home from work._
   - _Local news and talk shows fill the late fringe after the prime-time lineup ends._
15. Used before a noun to refer to Aboriginal people who live on the edges of towns or other settlements. *(Australia)*
   - Simple: Used before a noun to describe Aboriginal people living on the edges of towns.
   - _The shire council tried to move the Aboriginal fringe camp further away from the township._
   - _Her grandmother grew up among the fringe people, one of many Aboriginal families kept out of the town itself._
16. The peristome, a fringe-like appendage around the mouth of the spore capsule in most mosses.
   - Simple: A ring of tiny parts, like a fringe, around the opening of the spore case of most mosses.
   - _The shape of the fringe on its capsule helps botanists tell one moss species from another._
   - _In damp weather the fringe curls inward, closing the capsule mouth until conditions dry out._

## Adjective

4. Lying outside the mainstream of opinion, taste, or practice.
   - Simple: Outside the main, popular way of thinking or doing things.
   - _The festival has always welcomed acts that are far too fringe for commercial venues._
   - _What began as a fringe theory is now taught in introductory courses._

## Verb

7. To form a border along or around the edge of something.
   - Simple: To be the edge or border around something.
   - _Palm trees fringe the bay, casting thin shadows over the sand._
   - _A line of gray clouds fringed the horizon all afternoon._
8. To decorate the edge of something with a fringe.
   - Simple: To add a fringe to something as decoration.
   - _Costume makers fringe the sleeves with strips of soft leather._
   - _Her shawl was fringed with knotted silk that swayed as she walked._

## Origin

From Middle English frenge, from Old French frenge, from Vulgar Latin *frimbia, a rearrangement of Latin fimbriae ("fibers, threads, fringe"), whose own origin is uncertain. Compare German Franse and Danish frynse; it displaced several native words for "fringe", such as Old English fæs, and is a doublet of fimbria.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fringe (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).