full speed ahead

Idioms

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!”

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.

It's a green signal, if not quite full speed ahead.

From BBC • Jan. 14, 2026

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

From Slate • Jun. 22, 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

He’s going full speed ahead, even scheduling a home game with St. John Bosco next season on Sept. 14 in an attempt to raise his team’s level of play.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 3, 2023

I had every worker in the place yanking the paper off those bars of chocolate full speed ahead from morning till night.

From "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl

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