Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (1)
1.
a narrow boundary;
- Example: "he lived on a knife-edge between genius and insanity"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Knife-edge \Knife"-edge`\, n. (Mech.)
A piece of steel sharpened to an acute edge or angle, and
resting on a smooth surface, serving as the axis of motion of
a pendulum, scale beam, or other piece required to oscillate
with the least possible friction.
[1913 Webster]
Knife-edge file. See Illust. of File.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
knife-edge
n 1: a narrow boundary; "he lived on a knife-edge between genius
and insanity"