"at full tilt" meaning in English

See at full tilt in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Prepositional phrase

Audio: en-au-at full tilt.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: Recorded c. 1600, perhaps from the interpretation of tilt (“a joust”) as derived from "leaning" into an attack, presumably a folk etymology, as tilt in late Middle English meant “a covering of coarse cloth, an awning” and referred to the barrier separating the combatants in a joust.
  1. (idiomatic) At full speed; very quickly. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: at full throttle, full tilt boogie Translations (at full speed): δρόμῳ (drómōi) (Ancient Greek), co tchu (Polish), ile tchu (Polish), a toda velocidad (Spanish), a todo tren (Spanish)
{
  "etymology_text": "Recorded c. 1600, perhaps from the interpretation of tilt (“a joust”) as derived from \"leaning\" into an attack, presumably a folk etymology, as tilt in late Middle English meant “a covering of coarse cloth, an awning” and referred to the barrier separating the combatants in a joust.",
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
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          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              31,
              43
            ]
          ],
          "text": "Don't go racing around corners at full tilt or you'll hit someone.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "At full speed; very quickly."
      ],
      "id": "en-at_full_tilt-en-prep_phrase-mkzPlreX",
      "links": [
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        [
          "speed",
          "speed"
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        [
          "quickly",
          "quickly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) At full speed; very quickly."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "at full throttle"
        },
        {
          "word": "full tilt boogie"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "grc",
          "lang": "Ancient Greek",
          "lang_code": "grc",
          "roman": "drómōi",
          "sense": "at full speed",
          "word": "δρόμῳ"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "at full speed",
          "word": "co tchu"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "lang_code": "pl",
          "sense": "at full speed",
          "word": "ile tchu"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "at full speed",
          "word": "a toda velocidad"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "lang_code": "es",
          "sense": "at full speed",
          "word": "a todo tren"
        }
      ]
    }
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      "tags": [
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  ],
  "word": "at full tilt"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "Recorded c. 1600, perhaps from the interpretation of tilt (“a joust”) as derived from \"leaning\" into an attack, presumably a folk etymology, as tilt in late Middle English meant “a covering of coarse cloth, an awning” and referred to the barrier separating the combatants in a joust.",
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
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        "English idioms",
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              31,
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            ]
          ],
          "text": "Don't go racing around corners at full tilt or you'll hit someone.",
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        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "At full speed; very quickly."
      ],
      "links": [
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        [
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        [
          "quickly",
          "quickly"
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      ],
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        "(idiomatic) At full speed; very quickly."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
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      "tags": [
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  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "at full throttle"
    },
    {
      "word": "full tilt boogie"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "grc",
      "lang": "Ancient Greek",
      "lang_code": "grc",
      "roman": "drómōi",
      "sense": "at full speed",
      "word": "δρόμῳ"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "at full speed",
      "word": "co tchu"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "at full speed",
      "word": "ile tchu"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "at full speed",
      "word": "a toda velocidad"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "at full speed",
      "word": "a todo tren"
    }
  ],
  "word": "at full tilt"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-09 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (ccec6f1 and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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