full speed ahead

Idioms  

1. Also, full steam ahead. As fast and as strongly as possible. For example, There's only one way we'll get there on time, so go full speed ahead, or Production would go full steam ahead as soon as the orders were confirmed. It is also put as with a full head of steam, as in She was traveling with a full head of steam—she was due there at noon. These expressions all allude to the steam engine, where full steam signifies that a boiler has developed maximum pressure. They became well known through an order allegedly given by Admiral David Farragut at the battle of Mobile Bay (1864): “Damn the torpedoes! Full steam ahead!”

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Example Sentences

GM went full speed ahead, pouring money into national ad campaigns assailing things like men eating tofu.

From Slate • Jun. 22, 2025

It was still full speed ahead on tariffs.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2025

If the U.S. is “going full speed ahead, it’s most likely China will accelerate whatever it’s doing,” Hartung said.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 12, 2024

The company says it moved full speed ahead this year to ensure that future Christmases won’t look like last Christmas, but we may not know until the next yuletide snowstorm.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 20, 2023

I run from Black Alliance, the counterprotest going on in front of the Manor, and I’m running full speed ahead to get out of Davey.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold