POINT OF NO RETURN Definition & Meaning

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point of no return

noun

Aviation. the point in a flight at which an aircraft will lack sufficient fuel to return to its starting point.
the critical point in an undertaking, decision-making process, etc., where one has committed oneself irrevocably to a course of action or policy.

point of no return

noun

a point at which an irreversible commitment must be made to an action, progression, etc
a point in a journey at which, if one continues, supplies will be insufficient for a return to the starting place

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of point of no return¹

First recorded in 1940–45

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Idioms and Phrases

The place in a course of action beyond which reversal is not possible. For example, Once the contract is signed, we've reached the point of no return . This expression comes from aviation, where it signifies the point where an aircraft does not have enough fuel to return to the starting point. [c. 1940]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Pattison says it took a long time to work up the nerve to hit "post" on X, because she knew it would be "the point of no return".

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They were fast approaching the point of no return.

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My mom’s cancer was diagnosed late and she was bounced from one provider to another, ultimately allowing her disease to metastasize past the point of no return.

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Other observers, however, predict that momentum has already passed a point of no return and full-scale war is inevitable.

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“This scene is a point of no return. Mariko’s defiance has set her on an unstoppable trajectory that finally allows her to claim the purpose she has been seeking all her life.”

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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