full throttle

noun, adv — 3 senses

full throttle

noun
1

A maximum setting on an engine or motor control: especially, the totally open position of a valve for air intake, but also any corresponding maximum setting.

  • there was no further sign of any Nazi planes, Perry banked southward and went roaring home to Base on full throttles1943, Johnston Carroll, “Wings of the North”, in Leo Margulies, editor, Flying Wildcats, page 127:
  • its regs and serirs over which Land Rovers can race with full throttles and little chance of meeting any obstacle larger than a fist-sized stone.1975, John Innes Clarke, An Advanced Geography of Africa, page 43:
1 more example
  • Under full throttle, your car is just on the border of maximum traction2003, Bob Bondurant with John Blakemore, Bob Bondurant on High Performance Driving, page 85:
2

Figuratively A maximum level of speed, effort, or risk.

  • I'm in the full throttles of an embrace and this is wonderful.1999, David M. Jacobs, The Threat: Revealing the Secret Alien Agenda, page 228:
  • In the third week Dr. Gale shifted into full throttle back pedal.2003, Jennifer Hendricks with Gordon Hendricks, Slim to None: A Journey Through the Wasteland of Anorexia Treatment, page 176:
1 more example
  • The full-throttle growth was still in place, as it had been as long as I could remember.2008, Otis L Graham, Jr., Immigration Reform and America's Unchosen Future, page 193:
Synonyms
full bore, balls to the wall, balls-out, pedal to the metal
Derived terms
at full throttle
Related terms
step on it

full throttle

adv
1

All out; at maximum speed, effort, or risk.

  • The other, the Christina Covey, there was another that never knowed the harbour, why, she come in full throttle1988, Murray A. Pura with Loren Wilkinson, Mizzly Fitch: The Light, the Sea, the Storm, page 14:
  • Virtually all exercise authorities recommend some kind of warm-up period in each session before you go full throttle1996, Steven Jonas, The Essential Triathlete:
1 more example
  • If Nonna had seen them, she would do the same as Dad, but I looked back to see her focused full throttle on whatever it was George was saying.2006, Dorothea Benton Frank, Full of Grace, page 212:
Synonyms
full bore, full tilt boogie

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