to cross the threshold
3
6.2
- phrasal verb
:
cruzar el umbral
- After years of hard work, she crossed the threshold into a new phase of her career as a manager.
It is costing us hundreds of billions of dollars now, and it will not be long before it crosses the threshold into a trillion dollars.
- It is costing us hundreds of billions of dollars now, and it will not be long before it crosses the threshold into a trillion dollars.
- So is this the best way to to live out one's last moments and cross the threshold into death?
- And one of the places that I was absolutely trapped in the return was I didn't have the mentor to help me cross the threshold.
- It was less, it was almost a, it crossed the threshold of you could tell those guys were friends too.
- And at some point, of course, he has crossed the threshold from being bald to to not being bald.
- They say that you've, you've now cross the threshold in your life is only to be of service to aspirants.
Examples
-
The magic happens once we cross the threshold of our new abode.
Blog text (27) -
When he graduated from university, he felt he had finally crossed the threshold into adulthood.
-
Mexico was ready to cross the threshold into the developed world through its association with the United States and Canada.
Academic text (1994) -
You crossed the threshold, and you were in a new country.
Fiction book (1999) -
Holly felt at home the moment she crossed the threshold.
Fiction book (1991) -
The City of Austin has now crossed the threshold of becoming a Majority-Minority city.
Blog text (6) -
From the moment we crossed the threshold of the classroom, our fates would be sealed.
Fiction book (1997) -
When I crossed the threshold, I felt myself stirred by a multitude of memories.
Fiction book (1991) -
Purified and tested by the struggles and tribulations of the past, the German Baptist Church crosses the threshold of its first century.
Academic text (2018) -
For Kelleher and Sheehy, simply crossing the threshold of their writing space transports them to "the otherworld" of writing.
Academic text (2009)
Synonyms
1
4.8
To go through a big change in your life or situation
Antonyms
How Significant
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to enter a new stage' is directly derivable from combining 'cross' (to go over) with 'threshold' (a point or level marking the start); the spatial action of crossing a threshold naturally extends to beginning a new phase. This spatial→metaphorical mapping is common cross‑linguistically and follows regular composition patterns in English, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would likely infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase cross the threshold comes from the image of crossing the threshold, the small piece of wood or stone at the bottom of a door that you step over when you go into a house. To step over it is to enter a new space, so the phrase now means 'to begin something new' or 'enter a new stage in life'.