last straw

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

last straw (uncountable)

1. (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

• final straw
• the straw that broke the camel's back
• the stroke that broke the camel's back

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

See also

• deal breaker

Anagrams

• stalwarts