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the last straw
- The last in a series of grievances or burdens that finally exceeds the limits of endurance: “The management has given me nothing but trouble since I took this job, and now they've cut my benefits! Well, that's the last straw: I quit!” It comes from an old expression, “the straw that broke the camel's back.”
Idioms and Phrases
The final annoyance or setback, which even though minor makes one lose patience. For example, I could put up with his delays and missed deadlines, but when he claimed the work was unimportant—that was the last straw! This term is a shortening of the straw that broke the camel's back , which conveys a vivid image of an overloaded animal being given one slight additional weight. The expression dates from the mid-1800s, and replaced the earlier the last feather that breaks the horse's back .Example Sentences
Every time Jackson, a retired aircraft repairman, saw Trump’s actions rattling his community, he thought it must be the last straw — the end of Trump.
Vance’s Yale friend Jamil Jivani, who is mentioned in the book, told van Zuylen-Wood that “the last straw”—the offense that fully convinced Vance to reject the ruling elites—was that snotty critics gave the Ron Howard–Glenn Close Elegy adaptation, which has a good audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, bad reviews.
"But recent disclosures that Johnson knew about sexual misconduct allegations against Chris Pincher, a Conservative lawmaker, before he promoted Pincher to a senior position turned out to be the last straw," the AP added.
“The most recent news should be the last straw,” the statement said, adding: “All state attorneys general must be above reproach. For too long Paxton has teetered on the edge. He needs to go, and an independent investigation should be launched immediately.”
For former defense secretary Jim Mattis, it was the last straw: the sight of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, walking the streets of downtown Washington in battle-ready camouflage amid a show of brute federal force.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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