pour on the coal

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Speed up, as in They keep passing us so pour on the coal, Mom! or We can get this issue of the paper out on time if we pour on the coal. This slangy expression originated in aviation in the 1930s but must have been an allusion to the coal-burning engines of trains and ships, since aircraft were never so powered. It has since been transferred to other vehicles and other endeavors.

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Question 1 of 7

The rainy weather could not ________ my elated spirits on my graduation day.

affect

effect

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Words nearby pour on the coal

pour cold water on, pour encourager les autres, pouring box, pour le mérite, pour oil on troubled waters, pour on the coal, pour out one's heart, pourparler, pourparty, pourpoint, pourriture noble

How to use pour on the coal in a sentence

Just the hard-on before you shoot unarmed members of the public.
'Babylon' Review: The Dumb Lives of Trigger-Happy Cops|Melissa Leon|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
France 24 is providing live, round-the-clock coverage of both scenes as they progress.
LIVE Coverage of the Paris Terror Attacks||January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sands was involved in a scandalous-for-the-time romance with the carpenter and there were rumors she was pregnant with his child.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion|Nina Strochlic|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Three on-the-record stories from a family: a mother and her daughters who came from Phoenix.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

You just travel light with carry-on luggage, go to cities that you love, and get to hang out with all your friends.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sleek finds it far harder work than fortune-making; but he pursues his Will-o'-the-Wisp with untiring energy.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
In the time of destruction they shall pour out their force: and they shall appease the wrath of him that made them.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
It was little better than coal dust, and would not carry a ball fifty paces to kill or wound.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
He shall pour frost as salt upon the earth: and when it freezeth, it shall become like the tops of thistles.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
The temptation to pour his financial troubles into the sympathetic ears of these two dear women he resisted.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke