bursting point

American  

noun

1. the point at which normal capacity is exceeded.

2. a stage of emotion at which self-control is lost.

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Etymology

Origin of bursting point

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Outside the capital, ICU wards are also at the bursting point.

From Seattle Times

By mid-March, when hospitals in northern Italy were at bursting point and hundreds were dying each day, Elena herself became infected, losing her sense of smell and taste.

From BBC

And while “Leopoldstadt” is replete, to the bursting point, with historical fact and political theory, it is mostly devoid of the intellectual jeux d’esprit that have been its creator’s signature.

From New York Times

“The fly then sucks up the blood with its fleshy mouth parts,” he says, “filling to bursting point on its victim’s rich, cold blood.”

From New York Times

Get-tough sentencing laws during and after his first stint helped lead to the mass incarceration that crowded state prisons to the bursting point, spurring a federal takeover of many prison operations and a cap on the inmate population.

From Seattle Times