full to the brim vs full to the rim

Both 'full to the brim' and 'full to the rim' are understandable, but 'full to the brim' is the more commonly used and idiomatic expression in English. It conveys the idea that something is completely filled. 'Full to the rim' is less common and may not be as widely recognized.

Explained by Vince
Editor at TextRanch

Last updated: March 17, 2025 • 5779 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"full to the brim"

This phrase is used to describe something that is completely filled or overflowing.

Examples:

The glass was full to the brim with water.
Her heart was full to the brim with happiness.
The room was full to the brim with people.
The suitcase was full to the brim with clothes.
The jar was full to the brim with cookies.

Show examples from the web [+]

After the summit, however, the Union's glass is now full to the brim.
I'm going to have a hot bath, full to the brim.
Well, Clell says that bank's full to the brim with money.
Garrow, by the time you come to trial, every print shop and newspaper will be full to the brim with its sensation.
He's full to the brim with ideas for their improvement.
This big, this wide, full to the brim with money.
It used to remain full to brim. I don't know when it went away taking my life.
Our legions are brim-full, our cause is ripe.
This report sets right, to a certain extent, the market in fruit and vegetables, which is brim-full of excessively detailed regulation, and phases out export refunds for this sector.
And Rome was rich and brim full of music,
The brim? - The brim.
There was a spider on the brim.
Have your name stitched on the brim.
A two-story Stetson with outdoor dining on the brim.
Filled to the brim with bric-a-brac and shrapnel.
The sediment forms the brim of Orinoco's hat.
A two-story Stetson with outdoor dining on the brim.
Filled to the brim with guilt.
If filled to the brim the measuring device provides 50 ml.
Our pockets are small, but filled to the brim with hope.

Alternatives:

filled to the brim
overflowing
brimming with
packed to the brim
loaded to the brim

This phrase is correct but less commonly used in English.

"full to the rim"

This phrase can also be used to describe something that is completely filled, but it is not as common as 'full to the brim.'

Examples:

The cup was full to the rim with coffee.
The bowl was full to the rim with soup.
The bucket was full to the rim with water.
The glass was full to the rim with juice.
The jar was full to the rim with coins.

Show examples from the web [+]

I spent more than a month in a Glasgow Coma Scale three, and it is inside that deepest level of coma, on the rim between my life and my death, that I'm experiencing the full connection and full consciousness of inner space.
Found matching iron oxide residue around the rim.
Then we saw the rim of the Earth melt.
Feel like I'm above the rim.
It's actually good around the rim of anything.
That only matters to the people on the rim.
Again, locate the rim inside a house.
Run your fingers along the rim.
If we shoot the tires, he could ride the rims for miles.
With all this tea my bladder is filled to the rim.
We're comin' to the rim of the crater now.
Look at the filigree scalloping on the rim.
Even the rims are the same.
The bottom's smooth, like the rim of a bathtub.
Steve, I did not touch the rim.
I do like to lick the rim.
That's how you got into our house past the rim.
Cherry cosmopolitans with extra sugar on the rim.
That's where his head hits the rim.
The test loading must be applied on the rim and between two spokes that confine the greatest angle.

Alternatives:

filled to the rim
overflowing
brimming with
packed to the rim
loaded to the rim

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full to the brim vs full to the rim

"full to the brim"

"full to the rim"

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