the limit

Idioms  

1. The most extreme; someone or something that irritates, delights, or surprises to the ultimate degree. For example, Hiring and firing someone the same day—that's the limit in employee relations! or That excuse of yours for missing the wedding, that's the limit, or He's done wonders before but this last one is the limit. This idiom uses limit as “the last possible point or boundary.” [Colloquial; c. 1900]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

the limit

The wreckage is settled in an area about 130 feet deep, just past the limit to which humans can safely dive, police told The Times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

"Elias 2-24 b is at the limit of what current telescopes can detect, but with new instruments like NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, such detections should become easier."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

Tech leaders say it’s sometimes a shot in the dark knowing what the limit should be for a given job title, and even harder to know when to extend or enforce that limit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

"I'm speechless right now. I was pushing to the limit in this match, especially in the third set," said Sabalenka.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

Lawrence exploited to the limit the free labor of graduate students, an important key to low-cost operation of the enormous piece of capital equipment he was erecting.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Related Words

• exuberance
• glut
• overkill
• surplus
• waste