Navigation
Home
Resources
Irregular verbs quizzes English conjugator English-French dictionary French dictionary English dictionary Monolingual dictionaries Scores by institution Free sample tests FAQ Pricing Tourism training Blog Videos
Login Sign up
Blog
Videos
Pricing
FR EN

full speed ahead

intj, noun, adv and 1 more — 5 senses

full speed ahead

intj
1

Nautical, Transport Usually A command to move forward at maximum speed.

  • Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
  • We had advanced a hundred yards, perhaps, when our first danger confronted us. Just ahead was a sharp right-angle turn in the tunnel. I could see the river's flotsam hurtling against the rocky wall upon the left as it was driven on by the mighty current, and I feared for the safety of the U-33 in making so sharp a turn under such adverse conditions; but there was nothing for it but to try. I didn't warn my fellows of the danger--it could have but caused them useless apprehension, for if we were to be smashed against the rocky wall, no power on earth could avert the quick end that would come to us. I gave the command full speed ahead and went charging toward the menace. I was forced to approach the dangerous left-hand wall in order to make the turn, and I depended upon the power of the motors to carry us through the surging waters in safety.1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter IV, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC:

full speed ahead

noun
1

Nautical, Transport Usually Maximum speed on a ship.

  • Then he gave it full speed ahead, and shot us into the inlet.
2

Idiomatic Maximum effort without reservations or delay.

  • We got the OK on the conversion project. It's full speed ahead.

full speed ahead

adv
1

Idiomatic With maximum effort, without reservations or delay.

  • He charged full speed ahead into his studies.
Related terms
plow ahead

full speed ahead

adj
1

Idiomatic Unhesitant.

  • The company's full speed ahead approach to product development would ultimately be its downfall.
  • I was always so busy and full-speed ahead that I didn't take any time out to really listen to God.2009, Shattered, →ISBN, page 129:
1 more example
  • And what he's done in climbing is no less than world class — a blend of vision and genetic athleticism, with a full-speed-ahead approach that dwells on the possibilities, not the problems.2013, Pete Takeda, An Eye at the Top of the World, →ISBN, page 90:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.