ultimate strength

American

noun

Engineering.

the quantity of the utmost tensile, compressive, or shearing stress that a given unit area of a certain material is expected to bear without failing.

ultimate strength British

noun

the maximum tensile stress that a material can withstand before rupture

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I wanted to reveal the lengths that families are willing to go for each other, and how those bonds can both harness us to dysfunction and be our ultimate strength.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2025

"Being vulnerable is not a weakness, it's the ultimate strength."

From BBC • May 27, 2024

Legal experts not involved with the case underscored that its ultimate strength will likely hinge on evidence that has not yet been made public.

From Reuters • Apr. 5, 2023

“While problems remain, I am firm in my belief that Japanese companies have great potential. The ultimate strength of corporate Japan is technology,” he wrote.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 12, 2021

So subjected, it may deepen and gain ultimate strength, but it will lose its intoxicating novelty, and become associated with pain as well as with pleasure.

From The Continental Dragoon A Love Story of Philipse Manor-House in 1778 by Stephens, Robert Neilson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023