bursting point

noun

1. the point at which normal capacity is exceeded.
2. a stage of emotion at which self-control is lost.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bursting point¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Meanwhile, global warming is accelerating the melting of glaciers which can fill up the lakes to bursting point.

From BBC

In his introduction to the collection, Jonathan Dee, a novelist and one of So’s mentors at Syracuse University, where the younger writer earned his MFA, aptly remarks that “every sentence seems at its observational bursting point.”

From Los Angeles Times

On Tuesday, Pip Griffin, a senior warden in the Worcestershire area, told the committee dog pounds were at bursting point with abandoned animals, meaning imports should not be needed.

From BBC

“We stood in the sun for hours, many of the elderly with ankle, legs and knees swollen to almost the bursting point,” Ruth Hooper, an American teenager who was interned by the Japanese in Manila, wrote in one.

From Los Angeles Times

The result was an international fixture between England and South Africa, squeezed into a calendar at bursting point, felt almost like a non-event - a feeling that will only get worse if too many future games are without England's biggest stars.

From BBC