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get up steam

Idioms  

  1. Prepare to work hard, summon up energy. For example, If we can just get up steam we can finish in no time. This expression alludes to producing enough steam to work an engine. [Early 1800s] Also see under full speed ahead.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Last week, with the Navy offering to chip in, it looked as if the shipping program was finally ready to get up steam.

From Time Magazine Archive

They told me it would go 400 miles on one tank of water and they had a flash-firing system worked out where they could get up steam in less than half a minute ...

From Time Magazine Archive

Glanting is finding it hard to get up steam.

From Time Magazine Archive

He urged Secretary Ickes to get up steam behind the new Civil Works program.

From Time Magazine Archive

He instantly ordered the engineer to get up steam.

From A Captain in the Ranks A Romance of Affairs by Eggleston, George Cary

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.