point of no return

Definitions

1. The point in an aircraft's flight when there is insufficient fuel to reverse direction and return to the place of origin.
2. The point in any process or sequence of events where some development becomes inevitable.
   figuratively

Equivalents

Examples

“After Munich it became daily more evident that Hitler had passed the point⟳ of no return⟳. With every burst⟳ of news from Europe the inevitability of war became more certain.”

“[...] this trickle of loss going on relentlessly week by week will gradually reduce⟳ miscellaneous merchandise loadings on the railways to a point⟳ of no return⟳, where the entire business must be abandoned to cut⟳ steeply mounting losses.”

“However, for slightly larger stars, no such final equilibrium state is possible, and in such a case the star will contract beyond a certain critical point⟳ — the point⟳ of no return⟳ — where complete⟳ gravitational collapse leading to a spacetime singularity is inevitable.”

“A record⟳ loss of sea ice in the Arctic this summer has convinced scientists that the northern hemisphere may have⟳ crossed a critical threshold beyond which the climate may never recover⟳.”

CEFR level