bursting at seams
Filled beyond capacity
Bursting at the seams describes something so full it can barely contain its contents, like overstuffed luggage or a crowded room: The stadium was bursting at the seams.
The image is of fabric straining where pieces join.
It often suggests abundance threatening to overflow: She was bursting at the seams with excitement.
- overflowingExceeding capacity, spilling out
- spilling overExceeding a container's limit
- bulgingSwelling outward visibly
- stuffedFilled beyond capacity
- crammedOverfilled or overstuffed
packed · sardine can · standing room only · swelling · stretched · tight · full · too full · exploding · straining · can't breathe · capacity · overfull · brimming · splitting · coming apart · ripping · threads
- crowdedcrowded, jam-packed, packed like sardines, crammed, jammed
- gluttonyglutton, gluttonous, gorge, gorger, gorging
- Sewing Metaphorsthreadbare, woven, patched up, hanging by a thread, needling
bursting at seamsempty
Holding nothing inside
half-empty · vacant · hollow · bare · depleted
bursting at seamsdeserted
Left behind, uninhabited
empty · abandoned · desolate · uninhabited · ghost town
bursting at seamsscarce
In short supply
meager · running low · wanting · in short supply · impoverished
burst, bursts, seam, seams, seamed, seaming, seamless, seamstress