{
  "id": "boiling-over.threshold",
  "term": "boiling over",
  "sense": "threshold",
  "pos": "noun",
  "status": "review",
  "level": 19,
  "arena": "social_systems",
  "domain": "emergence",
  "style": "folk",
  "definition": "A parameter has drifted past a wall where containment ends, and the thing continues in a new state without the previous boundary holding it, revealing that maintenance was only just holding the shape against constant pressure.",
  "folk_gloss": "When a situation gets too intense and suddenly erupts into chaos or anger.",
  "emergence": {
    "components": [
      "wall.range-end",
      "drift.aimless",
      "maintenance.upkeep",
      "window.range",
      "pressure.ontological"
    ],
    "interaction": "crossing without removal",
    "novel_properties": [
      "emergence.novel_properties"
    ]
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "text": "In 2008, Iceland's banking system collapsed when liabilities exceeded GDP by 700%, overwhelming regulatory buffers.",
      "domain": "economics"
    },
    {
      "text": "The Fukushima Daiichi reactors melted down after tsunami waves exceeded the seawall's design height of 5.7 meters.",
      "domain": "engineering"
    },
    {
      "text": "During the Arab Spring, simmering dissent in Tunisia erupted after Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest.",
      "domain": "institutions"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "used_by": [],
  "forms": [
    "boil over",
    "boiling over"
  ],
  "closed": false,
  "provenance": {
    "author": "phrases:qwen/qwen3-235b-a22b-2507",
    "date": "2026-07-29",
    "confidence": 0.7,
    "sources": [
      "folk phrase — crossing without removal"
    ]
  },
  "canonical": "https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-boiling-over.threshold"
}