breaking points

noun

plural of breaking point
as in crises
a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action tensions between the two nations had risen to the breaking point

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of breaking points This time around, traders often cite the booming (and opaque) private credit market and AI datacenter plans funded too much by debt — some of it off balance sheet — as likely breaking points. — Sean Conlon, CNBC, 24 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for breaking points
  1. crises
  2. crossroads
  3. boiling points
  4. heads
  5. flash points
Noun
  • Expectations around workload and external factors, including international conflicts and crises, are contributing to these heightened anxieties.
    — Sam Birchall, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Presenhuber added that economic crises and global politics seem continue to dampen her clients’ moods overall—and their spending.
    — Devorah Lauter, ARTnews.com, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of crises
Noun
  • While Wilson was only speaking for the defense, his theme accurately describes the crossroads the Giants have reached as a team here in early October.
    — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Indiana is well positioned to compete, literally as the crossroads of America.
    — Jeff Danielson, Chicago Tribune, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of crossroads
Noun
  • The intense temperature and pressure of the impact heated the moon's crust and mantle so much that many of the volatile elements present (volatiles are elements with low boiling points), including potassium, evaporated and escaped into space.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 23 Jan. 2026
  • Thermodynamics drives selective recovery The researchers hypothesized that FJH combined with chlorine gas could exploit differences in Gibbs free energy and boiling points to selectively remove non-REE elements from magnet waste.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 29 Sep. 2025
Definition of boiling points
Noun
  • Looking through small microscopes implanted in the mice’s heads, Patel’s team zoomed in on a particular subset of brain cells, called somatostatin neurons, as the animals reacted to the fox urine scent.
    — Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Zavodovski is home to both chinstraps and macaroni penguins, which have distinctive yellow feather plumes on their heads.
    — Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of heads
Noun
  • The number of geopolitical flash points would multiply as governments rushed to grab their share of the oceans and protect their claims through force.
    — Michael Albertus, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2026
  • The dispute over the route became one of the defining flash points of the conflict in Northern Ireland.
    — Amanda Ferguson Reuters, Arkansas Online, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of flash points

Browse Nearby Words

breaking point
breaking points
breaking the law
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Cite this Entry

“Breaking points.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/breaking%20points. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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