The Chinese word **濒临 (bīnlín)** is formed through the combination of two semantically related characters: **濒 (bīn)**, which originally meant "water's edge" and by extension conveys the idea of being close to or on the brink of, and **临 (lín)**, meaning "to face," "to approach," or "to be about to." Together, they form a compound verb where the meanings reinforce each other, creating the specific sense of "to be on the verge of" or "to border on," typically used to describe being close to a critical state, such as danger, collapse, or extinction. This formation follows a common pattern in Chinese where two characters with similar or complementary meanings are paired to express a more precise and often intensified concept.