go to pieces

Idioms  

1. Experience an emotional or mental breakdown, as in When she heard of his death she went to pieces. [Late 1800s] For a synonym, see fall apart, def. 2.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

go to pieces

The first 2014 entry convinced the audience to buy that Keanu Reeves’ assassin would go to pieces over a puppy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2025

"You might go to pieces afterwards. But on the scene, you've got to be calm and collected, to get on and do the job that you're there to do."

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2022

The miracle is their ability to function at all, and to not go to pieces when every move hangs between life and death.

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 3, 2016

We never really worried that things would go to pieces the way they ultimately did.

From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2011

“I do miss them. They were good people. Not huggers or the types to go to pieces over loving someone. But good people.”

From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt