go to pieces

verb

lose one's emotional or mental composure (Freq. 1)

-

She fell apart when her only child died

• Syn: ↑fall apart

• Hypernyms: ↑break down, ↑lose it, ↑snap

• Verb Frames:

-

Somebody ——s

* * *

phrasal

: to become shattered in or as if in nerves or health

* * *

go to pieces see under ↑piece

• • •

Main Entry: ↑go

————————

go to pieces

1. To break up entirely (lit and figurative)

2. To lose completely the ability to cope with the situation

• • •

Main Entry: ↑piece

* * *

go to pieces informal phrase

to be so nervous or worried that you cannot behave in a sensible way

If we mentioned the incident, she was likely to go to pieces.

Thesaurus: to worry or feel nervous about something_synonym

Main entry: piece

* * *

become so nervous or upset that one is unable to behave or perform normally

* * *

go to pieces

: to become unable to behave normally because you are very nervous or upset

He tends to go to pieces [=break down] under pressure.

I go (all) to pieces if I have to talk in front of a large group of people.

• • •

Main Entry: ↑piece

* * *

go to ˈpieces idiom

(informal) (of a person) to be so upset or afraid that you cannot manage to live or work normally

•

After his wife died he just went to pieces.

Main entry: ↑piece_idiom