Definition of "precipice"

I resolved to remove my tent from the place where it stood, which was just under the hanging precipice of the hill; and which, if it should be shaken again, would certainly fall upon my tent […]

1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], 3rd edition, London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], published 1719

In emailed comments supporting the new initiative, the laureate professor Noam Chomsky said: “Humans are marching towards a precipice. When we reach it, unthinkable catastrophe is inevitable. […] ”

2022 September 14, Arthur Neslen, quoting Noam Chomsky, “Health groups call for global fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty”, in The Guardian‎