\Bor"der\, n. [OE. bordure, F. bordure, fr. border to
border, fr. bord a border; of German origin; cf. MHG. borte
border, trimming, G. borte trimming, ribbon; akin to E. board
in sense 8. See {Board}, n., and cf. {Bordure}.]
1. The outer part or edge of anything, as of a garment, a
   garden, etc.; margin; verge; brink.
         Upon the borders of these solitudes.  --Bentham.
         In the borders of death.              --Barrow.
2. A boundary; a frontier of a state or of the settled part
   of a country; a frontier district.
3. A strip or stripe arranged along or near the edge of
   something, as an ornament or finish.
4. A narrow flower bed.
{Border land}, land on the frontiers of two adjoining
   countries; debatable land; -- often used figuratively; as,
   the border land of science.
{The Border}, {The Borders}, specifically, the frontier
   districts of Scotland and England which lie adjacent.
{Over the border}, across the boundary line or frontier.
Syn: Edge; verge; brink; margin; brim; rim; boundary;
     confine.

\Bor"der\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Bordered}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Bordering}.]
1. To touch at the edge or boundary; to be contiguous or
   adjacent; -- with on or upon as, Connecticut borders on
   Massachusetts.
2. To approach; to come near to; to verge.
         Wit which borders upon profaneness deserves to be
         branded as folly.                     --Abp.
                                               Tillotson.

\Bor"der\, v. t.
1. To make a border for; to furnish with a border, as for
   ornament; as, to border a garment or a garden.
2. To be, or to have, contiguous to; to touch, or be touched,
   as by a border; to be, or to have, near the limits or
   boundary; as, the region borders a forest, or is bordered
   on the north by a forest.
         The country is bordered by a broad tract called the
         ``hot region.''                       --Prescott.
         Shebah and Raamah . . . border the sea called the
         Persian gulf.                         --Sir W.
                                               Raleigh.
3. To confine within bounds; to limit. [Obs.]
         That nature, which contemns its origin, Can not be
         bordered certain in itself.           --Shak.