A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

at the conference • in conference
at the conference —
1
. in the course of the conference: A good
deal of discussion at the conference has been about pluralism.
2. attending the conference: The gays at the conference were
all people who had “come out”— that is, openly declared
themselves to be homosexual.
in conference —busy at a meeting to discuss smth. or ex-
change views: He went to see the managing editor, but Percy
was in conference with the publisher.
at the cutting edge of something • on the knife-
edge of something
at the cutting edge of something —(also: on the cutting edge of
something ) involved in the most advanced developments in a
particular field: It is unrealistic to expect to be at the cutting
edge of the fashion industry for anything longer than fifteen
years.
on the knife-edge of something —(also: on the razor’s edge of
something ) on the brink of smth. bad or dangerous: The ex-
pansion of trade hasn’t closed the gap between those who live
on the cutting edge of the global economy and the billions
who live on the knife-edge of survival.
at the depth of something • in the depth of some-
thing
at the depth of something —at a specified distance from the
top down: At the depth of
1
80 feet, at what was called the
third gallery, the width of ore was, as I have said, 45 feet.
in the depth of something —
1
. in the deepest or most central
part of smth.: In the depth of the valley, there is a lochan (the
diminutive of loch) of superlative beauty. 2. in the middle of
the winter or night (when the cold or darkness is most intense):
In the depth of winter it is quite enough to fire up twice in
the twenty-four hours.
at the end of something • in the end of something
at the end of something —
1
. in the farthest or last part of
smth.: The player tries to catch with his teeth a cherry sus-
pended at the end of a string. 2. at the finish of an event or
activity: The audience gave him a big hand at the end of the
performance. 3. at the conclusion of a period: The fully an-
glicized spelling genteel came in at the end of the 
1
7th century.
in the end of something —
1
. = at the end of something 
1
: I ad-
justed the knot in the end of the rope to be as a small as pos-
sible and as close to the end of the rope as possible. 2. = at the
end of something 3: The latter pronunciation appears to have
been the only one in common use in the end of the 
1
8th cen-
tury.