hit the wall
Reach exhaustion point
To hit the wall is to reach a point of sudden exhaustion or inability to continue.
The phrase comes from endurance sports, where athletes sometimes collapse as if they'd struck a physical barrier: I hit the wall at mile twenty.
It extends to any abrupt depletion of energy or capacity: After six hours of negotiations, everyone hit the wall.
State of utter depletion
- burnoutChronic occupational depletion
- bonkPlayful head strike
- crashSudden violent impact
- depletionReduction of supply
collapse · energy crash · spent · drained · depleted · tapped out · nothing left · fade
Obstruction preventing passage
- plateauFlat highland area
- ceilingRoom's upper surface
- impasseSituation without resolution
- sticking pointUnresolved issue blocking progress
breakthrough · obstacle · block · threshold · standstill · mental block · stalemate · roadblock
exhaustion
State of utter depletion
depletion · collapse · energy crash · spent · drained · depleted · tapped out · nothing left · fade · cramping
barrier
Obstruction preventing passage
sticking point · breakthrough · obstacle · block · threshold · standstill · mental block · stalemate · roadblock · bottleneck
- exhaustionexhaustion, burn out, drained, spent, tired
- burnoutburned out, burnt out, burn out, burning out, burnout
- energy idiomsfull of beans, running on empty, second wind, burn out, fired up
- exhaustion phrasesdead tired, worn out, wiped out, burned out, run down
hit the wallpower through
Continue despite obstacles
dig deep · stay strong · recharge · rally · revive
hit the wallbreak through
Surmount an obstacle suddenly
push through · pick up steam · gain momentum · hit one's stride · accelerate
hit, wall, wallet, hitting, walls, hits, walled, hitter, walling