last straw

/læst strɔ/

Other forms: last straws

When things have been difficult, the event that finally makes you lose your patience is the last straw. It's annoying that your brother keeps borrowing your clothes, but spilling ketchup on your favorite sweater is the last straw.

The phrase last straw often shows up in an angry declaration: "I have had it with people dressing my cat in clothes! This little tuxedo is the last straw!" It comes from a longer saying, "the last straw that breaks the camel's back." Experts aren't positive about the phrase's origins, but they suspect a connection to an older saying, "it is the last feather that breaks the horse's back."

Definitions of last straw

1. noun

   the final irritation that stretches your patience beyond the limit
   type of:

   aggravation, irritation, provocation

   unfriendly behavior that causes anger or resentment