bring to a head

Idioms  

1. Cause to reach a turning point or crisis. For example, Management's newest policy has brought matters to a head. The related phrase come to a head means “to reach a crisis,” as in With the last break-in, the question of security came to a head. These phrases allude to the medical sense of head, the tip of an abscess that is about to burst. [Mid-1500s]

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Example Sentences

“We want to the courts to bring to a head because nobody else was going to bring this to a head,” said David.

From New York Times • Jan. 9, 2018

Whatever the outcome, last weekend's rebellion seemed to bring to a head a long-felt yearning for democratically elected leaders.

From Time Magazine Archive

Sometimes seen as bring to a head, this phrase has its humble beginnings in dermatology.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

Thus did the warden bring to a head a question that had been troubling the boy ever since the fox was recovered.

From The Boy Scouts in A Trapper's Camp by Burgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)

All these events bring to a head the problem which has been exercising the cowherds for long—who and what is Krishna?

From The Loves of Krishna in Indian Painting and Poetry by Archer, W. G.