break pointn.
1.
a. The place or time at which an interruption or change is made.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > [noun] > place or time at which change is made
break point1878
tipping point1959
1878 G. B. Prescott Speaking Telephone 192 The break-point, where the current is interrupted.
1960 R. M. Currie Work Study x. 116 When breaking the job down into elements..use audible points in the work, such as the snap of a switch,..as element break-points.
1977 R.A.F. News 30 Mar. 1/3 This choice will be open to those officers who decide to leave at either of the two ‘breakpoints’ rather than complete the full sixteen years.
1983 N.Y. Times 11 Dec. vi. 142/1 There is a statistically significant association between fragile sites and breakpoints leading to chromosome rearrangements in cancer cells.
b. Computing. A place in a computer program where the normal execution of instructions would be interrupted, esp. by another program.
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society > computing and information technology > programming language > program or code > [noun] > debugging > break point
break point1948
1948 J. P. Eckert in Moore School Lectures 1946 30 June (1985) 441 In a test run, if the final answers did not agree with the correct answers for the test run, the operator would have recourse to a set of what were termed ‘break points’.
1960 N. M. Cooke & J. Markus Electronics & Nucleonics Dict. 56/1 Break point, a place in a computer routine at which a special instruction is inserted to stop a digital computer for a visual check of progress, if desired.
1983 Your Computer (Austral.) Aug. 63/1 Now, the return address is the address after the breakpoint, so we must decrement the program counter before storing it away.
2.
a. = breaking-point n. at breaking n. Compounds 2; also, the point at which the situation in question changes, a turning point.
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the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > [noun] > critical or decisive moment
articlea1398
prick?c1422
crise?1541
push1563
in the nick1565
jump1598
concurrence1605
cardo1609
(the) nick of time (also occasionally opportunity, etc.)1610
edgea1616
climacterical1628
climacteric1633
in the nick-time1650
moment1666
turning-point1836
watershed1854
psychological moment1871
psychical moment1888
moment of truth1932
crunch1939
cruncher1947
high noon1955
break point1959
defining moment1967
midnight1976
1959 Times 22 May 9/2 Imports of woollen goods into the United States reached the ‘breakpoint’ of 13,500,000 lb.
1966 Jrnl. Canad. Operational Res. Soc. 114 Break point, the critical level of combat capability, measured by some explicit function of game variables, below which the unit is considered unable to persist in its assigned mission.
1968 Economist 17 Aug. 70/2 Chiefly at issue is the ‘break point’ for reducing commissions on such ‘volume’ transactions.
1983 Christian Sci. Monitor 26 Aug. 17 It [sc. drought] has ruined crops, dried wells, and sent millions of peasants streaming into the region's already overtaxed cities. Last week, the situation reached breakpoint.
b. U.S. Law A figure above which a fee for a non-profit-making lawyer would be excessive in relation to his overheads.
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society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > payment for labour or service > fee for services rendered > [noun] > fee of professional person > lawyer's fee > point above which fee is excessive
break point1983
1983 Federal Reporter (1984) 2nd Ser. 711 1136/2 The windfall aspect of the award would be eliminated by selecting $75 per hour as a ‘breakpoint’, and fees for plaintiffs' attorneys would not be calculated at rates higher than the $75 per hour figure.
1984 Legal Times 16 Jan. 9 When hours were correlated to income, Gary R. Lietz..commented, ‘The breakpoint of diminished returns on income appears after 54 hours per week’.
3. Tennis. A point which would win the game for the player(s) receiving service; the situation at which the receiver(s) may break service by winning such a point.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > racket games > lawn tennis > [noun] > score or stage of game
match ball1849
game ball1853
games all1853
game, set, and match1879
vantage1884
advantage point1889
game point1903
ad1915
match point1921
van1927
set point1928
ad point1939
break point1975
mini-break1981
1975 Tennis USA Apr. 20/3 When the match began, he had four break points against Jimmy in the second game but was unable to convert the opportunity.
1980 Times 2 July 10/3 In the fourth game, Fibak had two break points.
1983 M. Navratilova Tennis my Way 160 She used to throw examples of match situations at me and then explain what I should do..such as play aggressively at break point up, defensively at break point down.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1989; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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n.1878