bleeding edge

See also: bleeding-edge

English

WOTD – 6 March 2018

Blend of bleed +‎ leading edge, and metaphorically alluding to the cutting edge (“forefront or position of greatest advancement in some field”) as a double-edged sword.

(Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈbliː.dɪŋ ɛd͡ʒ/
(General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈbliː.dɪŋ ed͡ʒ/, [ˈblɪi.dɪŋ ed͡ʒ]
- Audio (AU) (file)
Hyphenation: bleed‧ing edge

bleeding edge (plural bleeding edges)

(cartography, printing) The situation produced when the image extends beyond the nominal margin.
(technology, idiomatic) Something too new and untested to be reliable or to have any assurance of safety; the figurative place where such things exist.
on the bleeding edge of drone technology
- 1968, Scott Francis Brenner, Ways of Worship for New Forms of Mission, page 79:
  They would be the creators of strategy, generators of action and the bleeding edge of the church, ever pushing toward the front lines of conflict.
- 1977, Infosystems, volume 24, page 64:
  A few leading edge (some say "bleeding" edge) users have stepped into the arena and their experiences have helped sharpen our perception of what the electronic office can be.
- 2017 July 7, Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, “The Ambitious War For The Planet Of The Apes Ends Up Surrendering to Formula”, in The A.V. Club‎, archived from the original on 27 November 2017:
  The motion-captured ape characters are the bleeding edge of digital effects, rarely short of impressive.

something too new and untested to be reliable