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point of no return love

point of no return

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The point in a course of action beyond which reversal is not possible.
  • noun The point in the flight of an aircraft beyond which there is insufficient fuel for return to the starting point.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun aviation The point in an aircraft's flight when there is insufficient fuel to reverse direction and return to the place of origin.
  • noun idiomatic The point in any journey, process, or sequence of events when it is no longer possible to reverse course or stop the process.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a line that when crossed permits of no return and typically results in irrevocable commitment

Etymologies

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Examples

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synonyms (2)

Words with the same meaning

  1. rubicon
  2. threshold

hypernyms (4)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. contrast
  2. demarcation
  3. dividing line
  4. line

cross-references (2)

Cross-references

  1. inevitability
  2. the die is cast

Comments

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  • ramsler commented on the word point of no return

    Related to the phrase, 'tipping point'. The distinction being that a 'point of no return' does not have any capability of being returned back to its starting state or position and is sometimes approached linearly without necessarily having a sudden acceleration past a certain point whereas a 'tipping point' implies the existence of multiple stable positions between which a system or object alternate and a non-linear change in the system or object at the tipping point.

    June 19, 2009