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

She placed the frozen goods in her carry-on, thinking she was under the limit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 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

That’s typically the limit on transfers, he said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

A handful of undercard fighters weighed in after Benn while Garcia was still nowhere to be seen, prompting questions about whether the Californian was having difficulties making the limit.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 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