at breaking point
About to collapse
At breaking point describes the moment just before someone or something fails under stress.
A person at breaking point can barely cope: She was at breaking point after months of sleepless nights with the baby.
Systems, relationships, or materials reach breaking point when strain exceeds capacity: The health service is at breaking point.
The British form; Americans typically say *at the breaking point*.
- snappingBreaking with sharp sound
- crackingBreaking without separating completely
- hair triggerUltra-responsive firing mechanism
- limitMaximum allowed extent
- edgeBoundary or sharpness
about to snap · on edge · collapse · mental breakdown · tension · stress · under strain · fracture · shatter · overwhelmed · exhausted · stretched · strained · taut · fraying · unraveling · falling apart · meltdown
- maxed outtapped out, topped out, maximal, at capacity, pushed to the limit
- overwhelmedstressed, overwhelmed, stressed out, burnt out, burned out
- burnoutburned out, burnt out, burn out, burning out, burnout