last straw

English

Etymology

Ellipsis of the straw that broke the camel's back.

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Noun

last straw (uncountable)

(idiomatic, almost always preceded by the) A small addition to a burden which causes it to exceed the capacity.
That's the last straw; it's a petty demand but I’m already under too much work. I quit!
- 2020 March 25, “Network News: What COVID-19 means for rail in a wider transport context”, in Rail, page 10:
  First to fail, inevitably, are the airlines. For Flybe, which was already losing money at the rate of £2 million a day, Coronavirus was the last straw.

Synonyms

Translations

small additional burden

Belarusian: апо́шняя кро́пля f (apóšnjaja króplja) (the last drop)
Catalan: la gota que fa vessar el got f (literally “the drop of water that makes the vase overflow”)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: poslední kapka f (literally “last drop”)
Finnish: viimeinen pisara (literally “last drop”), viimeinen niitti (literally “last rivet”)
French: la goutte d’eau qui fait déborder le vase (fr) f (literally “the drop of water that makes the vase overflow”)
Georgian: უკანასკნელი წვეთი (uḳanasḳneli c̣veti)
German: der Tropfen, der das Fass zum Überlaufen bringt (literally “the drop that makes the barrel overflow”)
Greek: η σταγόνα που ξεχείλισε το ποτήρι f (i stagóna pou xecheílise to potíri, literally “the drop that made the glass overflow”)
Hungarian: utolsó csepp a pohárban
Irish: buille na tubaiste m
Italian: l'ultima goccia (literally “the last drop”), la goccia che fa traboccare il vaso (literally “the drop that makes the vase overflow”)
Polish: miarka się przebrała, ostatnia kropla f
Portuguese: última gota f (literally “last drop”), gota d'água f (literally “waterdrop”)
Russian: после́дняя ка́пля (ru) f (poslédnjaja káplja) (the last drop)
Spanish: la gota que colma el vaso f (literally “the drop that fills the cup/glass”), acabose (es) m, puntilla (es) f
Thai: ฟางเส้นสุดท้าย (th) (faang-sên-sùt-táai)
Ukrainian: оста́ння кра́пля f (ostánnja kráplja) (the last drop)
Welsh: ei diwedd hi

Anagrams

stalwarts, Stalwarts

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