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sticking point

See more synonyms for sticking point on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a point, detail, or circumstance causing or likely to cause a stalemate or impasse: The bill would have gone through the Senate quickly but for one sticking point.
  2. sticking place(def 1).
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Origin of sticking point

First recorded in 1820–30
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

warningconditionsdemand

Examples from the Web for sticking point

Historical Examples

  • I do believe one sight of thee would nerve me to the sticking-point.

    Alroy

    Benjamin Disraeli

  • They have screwed up their courage to the sticking-point; and it has stuck.

    Utopia of Usurers and other Essays

    Gilbert Keith Chesterton

  • But Stephens had hardened his heart to the sticking-point, and he refused to wait.

    Lone Pine

    R. B. (Richard Baxter) Townshend

  • If she could only screw up her courage to the sticking-point!

  • And why not screw his courage to the sticking-point, and commune in confidence with his parents?

    Henrietta Temple

    Benjamin Disraeli

British Dictionary definitions for sticking point

sticking point

noun
  1. a problem or point on which agreement cannot be reached, preventing progress from being made
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012