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!”

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

full speed ahead

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

They’re both at full speed ahead at all times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2025

As a Mariners fan, it’s easy to look at the free-agent market in abstract and say they should have dived in full speed ahead.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 16, 2022

He runs, full speed ahead, his knobby knees pumping like pistons, the back of his T-shirt flying out behind him.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---