point of no return
nounEtymology
The expression originated in air navigation planning. The point along the planned flight path beyond which an aircraft will no longer be capable of returning to the takeoff airfield or an alternate airfield due to insufficient fuel is calculated before takeoff. This is mandatory for overwater flights or flights without alternates on route.
Definitions
The point in an aircraft's flight when there is insufficient fuel to reverse direction…
The point in an aircraft's flight when there is insufficient fuel to reverse direction and return to the place of origin.
The point in any process or sequence of events where some development becomes inevitable.
- 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.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for point of no return. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA