breaking point
Americannoun
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breaking points
plural
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the point at which a person, object, structure, etc., collapses under stress.
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the point at which a situation or condition becomes critical.
noun
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the point at which something or someone gives way under strain
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the moment of crisis in a situation
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of breaking point
First recorded in 1895–1900
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But the fourth season has brought her breaking point.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Funding of councils, says the JRF, is "stretched to breaking point", with the current model "increasingly unfit for purpose" and "hampering local efforts to reduce poverty".
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
The harder truth, the one I lived next door to for 16 years, is that there was no single breaking point.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
The escalating fighting in Yemen is pushing the country's health system to "breaking point", the World Health Organization said Tuesday, warning that diseases like cholera were already circulating widely.
From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026
As Harry’s birthday dinner would have stretched the Burrow’s kitchen to breaking point even before the arrival of Charlie, Lupin, Tonks, and Hagrid, several tables were placed end to end in the garden.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
