sticking-place

plural sticking-places · alternative sticking place

1. datedidiomaticThe point at which a process or thing, especially a state of mind or emotion, reaches its greatest strength and remains steadfast; sticking point.

   But screw your courage to the sticking-place, And we'll not fail.

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vii]

   1 more example

   Old men, who heard it, will still tell you how the reverberating voice made all hearts swell, in that moment; and braced them to the sticking-place.

   1837, Thomas Carlyle, “September”, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, book