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

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

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

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 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

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