breaking point

Noun

breaking point (countable and uncountable, plural breaking points)

1. The point at which the increasing strain in a material causes it to break.
2. (broadly, figuratively) The point at which a person or system succumbs to stresses or pressures and descends into crisis.
   • Even before Hurricane Sandy, New York was sheltering more homeless people than any city in the United States: a record 47,000 women, men and children, in a system strained to the breaking point.2012 November 20, Nina Bernstein, “Storm Bared a Lack of Options for the Homeless in New York”, in New York Times
   • But it was on the Epstein issue that her clash with the president reached its apparent breaking point.2025 November 22, Annie Karni, “Marjorie Taylor Greene Says She Will Resign in January, After Break From Trump”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC