See point of no return in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for point of no return meaning in English (9.5kB)
{
"etymology_text": "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.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "points of no return",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "points of no return"
},
"expansion": "point of no return (plural points of no return)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Aviation",
"orig": "en:Aviation",
"parents": [
"Aeronautics",
"Transport",
"Sciences",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "73 27",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"The point in an aircraft's flight when there is insufficient fuel to reverse direction and return to the place of origin."
],
"id": "en-point_of_no_return-en-noun-umJCWDyx",
"links": [
[
"aviation",
"aviation"
],
[
"aircraft",
"aircraft"
],
[
"flight",
"flight"
],
[
"insufficient",
"insufficient"
],
[
"fuel",
"fuel"
],
[
"reverse",
"reverse"
],
[
"direction",
"direction"
],
[
"place",
"place"
],
[
"origin",
"origin"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(aviation) The point in an aircraft's flight when there is insufficient fuel to reverse direction and return to the place of origin."
],
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "64 36",
"word": "equitime"
},
{
"_dis1": "64 36",
"word": "inevitability"
},
{
"_dis1": "64 36",
"word": "the die is cast"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "64 36",
"word": "PNR"
},
{
"_dis1": "64 36",
"word": "PONR"
},
{
"_dis1": "64 36",
"word": "rubicon"
},
{
"_dis1": "64 36",
"word": "threshold"
}
],
"topics": [
"aeronautics",
"aerospace",
"aviation",
"business",
"engineering",
"natural-sciences",
"physical-sciences"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "87 13",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"word": "航線臨界點"
},
{
"_dis1": "87 13",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "hángxiàn línjièdiǎn",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"word": "航线临界点"
},
{
"_dis1": "87 13",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "punt van veilige terugkeer"
},
{
"_dis1": "87 13",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"word": "toimintasäde"
},
{
"_dis1": "87 13",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"word": "paluurajakohta"
},
{
"_dis1": "87 13",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "point de non-retour"
},
{
"_dis1": "87 13",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Umkehrgrenzpunkt"
},
{
"_dis1": "87 13",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"word": "punto di non ritorno"
},
{
"_dis1": "87 13",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "tóčka nevozvráta",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"word": "то́чка невозвра́та"
},
{
"_dis1": "87 13",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "punto de no retorno"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "punt de no-retorn"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "不能返回臨界點"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "bùnéng fǎnhuí línjièdiǎn",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "不能返回临界点"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "只能進不能退的地步"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "zhǐ néng jìn bùnéng tuì de dìbù",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "只能进不能退的地步"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "有進無退的處境"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "yǒujìnwútuì de chǔjìng",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "有进无退的处境"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "欲罷不能的狀態"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "yùbàbùnéng de zhuàngtài",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "欲罢不能的状态"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "punt vanwaaruit geen terugkeer mogelijk is"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "piste, josta ei ole paluuta"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "point de non-retour"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"note": "no direct translation (see Zurück)",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "punto di non ritorno"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "punkt bez powrotu"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "ponto de não retorno"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "tóčka nevozvráta",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "то́чка невозвра́та"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "punto de no retorno"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "tóčka nepovérnennja",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "то́чка непове́рнення"
},
{
"_dis1": "59 41",
"code": "cy",
"lang": "Welsh",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "pwynt di-droi'n-ôl"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1959, Roger Burlingame, I Have Known Many Worlds, page 216",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1964 May, “News and Comment: Liner trains and the NUR”, in Modern Railways, page 290",
"text": "[...] 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.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1999, Malcolm Ludvigsen, General Relativity: A Geometric Approach, page 152",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2005 September 16, Steve Connor, “Global warming 'past the point of no return”, in The Independent, archived from the original on 2007-01-15",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"The point in any process or sequence of events where some development becomes inevitable."
],
"id": "en-point_of_no_return-en-noun-FaD6dSUP",
"links": [
[
"process",
"process"
],
[
"sequence",
"sequence"
],
[
"event",
"event"
],
[
"development",
"development"
],
[
"inevitable",
"inevitable"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figurative) The point in any process or sequence of events where some development becomes inevitable."
],
"tags": [
"figuratively"
]
}
],
"word": "point of no return"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns"
],
"etymology_text": "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.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "points of no return",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "points of no return"
},
"expansion": "point of no return (plural points of no return)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "equitime"
},
{
"word": "inevitability"
},
{
"word": "the die is cast"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"en:Aviation"
],
"glosses": [
"The point in an aircraft's flight when there is insufficient fuel to reverse direction and return to the place of origin."
],
"links": [
[
"aviation",
"aviation"
],
[
"aircraft",
"aircraft"
],
[
"flight",
"flight"
],
[
"insufficient",
"insufficient"
],
[
"fuel",
"fuel"
],
[
"reverse",
"reverse"
],
[
"direction",
"direction"
],
[
"place",
"place"
],
[
"origin",
"origin"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(aviation) The point in an aircraft's flight when there is insufficient fuel to reverse direction and return to the place of origin."
],
"topics": [
"aeronautics",
"aerospace",
"aviation",
"business",
"engineering",
"natural-sciences",
"physical-sciences"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1959, Roger Burlingame, I Have Known Many Worlds, page 216",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1964 May, “News and Comment: Liner trains and the NUR”, in Modern Railways, page 290",
"text": "[...] 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.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1999, Malcolm Ludvigsen, General Relativity: A Geometric Approach, page 152",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2005 September 16, Steve Connor, “Global warming 'past the point of no return”, in The Independent, archived from the original on 2007-01-15",
"text": "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.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"The point in any process or sequence of events where some development becomes inevitable."
],
"links": [
[
"process",
"process"
],
[
"sequence",
"sequence"
],
[
"event",
"event"
],
[
"development",
"development"
],
[
"inevitable",
"inevitable"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figurative) The point in any process or sequence of events where some development becomes inevitable."
],
"tags": [
"figuratively"
]
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "PNR"
},
{
"word": "PONR"
},
{
"word": "rubicon"
},
{
"word": "threshold"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"word": "航線臨界點"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "hángxiàn línjièdiǎn",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"word": "航线临界点"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "punt van veilige terugkeer"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"word": "toimintasäde"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"word": "paluurajakohta"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "point de non-retour"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Umkehrgrenzpunkt"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"word": "punto di non ritorno"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "tóčka nevozvráta",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"word": "то́чка невозвра́та"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "(aviation) the point in a flight when there is insufficient fuel to return to the origin",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "punto de no retorno"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "punt de no-retorn"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "不能返回臨界點"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "bùnéng fǎnhuí línjièdiǎn",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "不能返回临界点"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "只能進不能退的地步"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "zhǐ néng jìn bùnéng tuì de dìbù",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "只能进不能退的地步"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "有進無退的處境"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "yǒujìnwútuì de chǔjìng",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "有进无退的处境"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "欲罷不能的狀態"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "yùbàbùnéng de zhuàngtài",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "欲罢不能的状态"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "punt vanwaaruit geen terugkeer mogelijk is"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "piste, josta ei ole paluuta"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "point de non-retour"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"note": "no direct translation (see Zurück)",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "punto di non ritorno"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "punkt bez powrotu"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "ponto de não retorno"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "tóčka nevozvráta",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"word": "то́чка невозвра́та"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "punto de no retorno"
},
{
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "tóčka nepovérnennja",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "то́чка непове́рнення"
},
{
"code": "cy",
"lang": "Welsh",
"sense": "the point when it is no longer possible to stop the process",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "pwynt di-droi'n-ôl"
}
],
"word": "point of no return"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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