to go to pieces

Examples

• All

• Let's just not everybody go to pieces over this, okay?

  Fiction book (1999)

• You don't have to go to pieces over it.

  Pillow Talk (1959)

• And, and, and you would think that if one of you just went to pieces here, that I would notice.

• But break his heart, he goes to pieces, just like you or me.

  Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

• Every time I pass a church, I simply go to pieces.

  I Love Melvin (1953)

• I was afraid she might go to pieces a little, now that we had done it.

  Double Indemnity (1944)

• I worked too hard to let myself go to pieces.

  Blog text (26)

• The one thing that keeps him from going to pieces is his faith in me.

  The House Across the Bay (1940)

• The last thing I need right now is a partner who goes to pieces at the smallest sign of trouble!

  Fiction book (1992)

• You can't afford to go to pieces right now.

  Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre (2015)

Synonyms

F

to fall apart

vsto go to pieces

• Informal

193 4.2

To lose control of your feelings because of strong stress or sadness

is for sudden loss of emotional control after acute shock or distress

B

to break down

vsto go to pieces

111 3.9

To lose control of your feelings and cry or collapse

is mainly about losing mental or emotional control without physical collapse

C

to come apart

vsto go to pieces

44 3.1

To break into pieces or fall into separate parts

is about mental or emotional collapse, not literal physical separation

B

to break up

vsto go to pieces

• Informal

38 5.0

Become unable to cope because of strong stress or emotion

is a shorter loss of control often triggered by shock or distress

B

to break apart

vsto go to pieces

26 3.0

To separate into pieces, for example a machine or a group

is about emotional loss of control, not literal physical separation

C

to come undone

vsto go to pieces

• Informal

9 5.3

To begin to fail, fall apart, or lose control

is used specifically for emotional or mental loss, not structural failure

C

to come apart at the seams

vsto go to pieces

• Informal

5 7.2

To fall apart or stop working properly after being stable

is about sudden emotional loss of control rather than long decline after stability

D

to dissolve

vsto go to pieces

4 5.3

To suddenly start crying or laughing and lose control

is for losing control often from shock or distress rather than sudden display

Antonyms

K

to keep one's cool

• Informal

30 3.4

Stay calm and control your feelings when things are hard

K

to keep it together

• Informal

27 5.4

To stay calm and control your feelings in a difficult situation

How Distressed

to go to pieces

9 6.1

to break down

111 3.9

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology