push the envelope

Idioms  

1. Exceed the limits of what is normally done, be innovative, as in They are pushing the envelope in using only new fabrics for winter clothing. This idiom comes from aviation, the envelope alluding to the technical limits of a plane's performance, which, on a graph, appear as a rising slope as limits of speed and stress are approached and falls off when the capacity is exceeded and the pilot loses control; safety lies within these limits, or envelope, and exceeding them exposes pilot and plane to risk. [Slang; late 1960s]

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Example Sentences

Global investors, however, continue to push the envelope on risk.

From Barron's

The cash partnership is just the latest sign that Tenev isn’t afraid to push the envelope: This year, Robinhood has expanded the event contracts offered on its platform to include wagers on entertainment, politics and sports.

From The Wall Street Journal

But a federal court ruling last year allowing Kalshi to offer election bets paved the way for prediction markets to push the envelope on the kinds of contracts they offer.

From The Wall Street Journal

“If you ask, what do we do when we wake up in the morning, it’s about, how do we push the envelope in high-performance computing?”

From The Wall Street Journal

“I just wanted to push the envelope in that situation since we hadn’t had anything going on since the first inning.”

From Los Angeles Times