"balls to the wall" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pedal to the metal"
      },
      "expansion": "pedal to the metal",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "balls-out"
      },
      "expansion": "balls-out",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ball",
        "3": "balls",
        "4": "testicles"
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      "expansion": "balls (“testicles”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "First attested in the 1960s in the context of aviation, in reference to ball-shaped grips on an aircraft's engine controls (typically throttle, prop pitch and fuel mixture). Pushing these \"balls to the wall\" would put the engine at maximum power. Analogous to pedal to the metal.\nNot related to the term balls-out, which refers to steam engine machinery.\nNot related to the vulgar sense of balls (“testicles”).",
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
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      "expansion": "balls to the wall (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2006, Michael D. Brown, Testimony before the US Senate Homeland Security Committee",
          "text": "I told the staff...the day before the hurricane struck that I expected them to cut every piece of red tape, do everything they could, that it was balls to the wall, that I didn't want to hear anybody say that we couldn't do anything—to do everything they humanly could to respond.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021 November 1, Samantha Hissong, quoting Gordon Goner, “How Four NFT Novices Created a Billion-Dollar Ecosystem of Cartoon Apes”, in Rolling Stone",
          "text": "“I always go balls to the wall,” founding Ape Gordon Goner tells Rolling Stone over Zoom.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 June 15, Kat Moon, “Ashley Park’s Main Character Energy From ‘Joy Ride’ Is Here To Stay: ‘I’m Treating Myself Like A Lead Now’”, in Women's Health",
          "text": "“Asian women on-screen, especially in America and Hollywood, have been so sexualized and fetishized for the benefit of other people’s stories or jokes,” Ashley says. “And we’re like, ‘We’re gonna go balls to the wall, further than anyone’s gone with Asian women.’”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "With maximum effort or commitment."
      ],
      "id": "en-balls_to_the_wall-en-adv-KPgWDOsd",
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        [
          "maximum",
          "maximum"
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          "effort",
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        [
          "commitment",
          "commitment"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, idiomatic, slang) With maximum effort or commitment."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "all out"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
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          "_dis": "28 72",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "_dis": "21 79",
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          "_dis": "24 76",
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Full throttle; (at) maximum speed."
      ],
      "id": "en-balls_to_the_wall-en-adv-8dTmFs8S",
      "links": [
        [
          "Full throttle",
          "full throttle"
        ],
        [
          "speed",
          "speed"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, idiomatic, slang) Full throttle; (at) maximum speed."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "word": "go to the wall"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "8 92",
          "word": "pedal to the metal"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "word": "balls-to-the-wall"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "word": "balls to the walls"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "word": "balls-to-the-walls"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "28 72",
          "word": "balls-to-the-waltz"
        }
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      "tags": [
        "US",
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  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-balls to the wall.ogg",
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      "tags": [
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      "text": "Audio (AU)"
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  "word": "balls to the wall"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adverbs",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English rhyming phrases",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
    "English uncomparable adverbs"
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  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pedal to the metal"
      },
      "expansion": "pedal to the metal",
      "name": "m"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "balls-out"
      },
      "expansion": "balls-out",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ball",
        "3": "balls",
        "4": "testicles"
      },
      "expansion": "balls (“testicles”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "First attested in the 1960s in the context of aviation, in reference to ball-shaped grips on an aircraft's engine controls (typically throttle, prop pitch and fuel mixture). Pushing these \"balls to the wall\" would put the engine at maximum power. Analogous to pedal to the metal.\nNot related to the term balls-out, which refers to steam engine machinery.\nNot related to the vulgar sense of balls (“testicles”).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
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      "expansion": "balls to the wall (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "go to the wall"
    },
    {
      "word": "pedal to the metal"
    }
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  "senses": [
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        "American English",
        "English idioms",
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2006, Michael D. Brown, Testimony before the US Senate Homeland Security Committee",
          "text": "I told the staff...the day before the hurricane struck that I expected them to cut every piece of red tape, do everything they could, that it was balls to the wall, that I didn't want to hear anybody say that we couldn't do anything—to do everything they humanly could to respond.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2021 November 1, Samantha Hissong, quoting Gordon Goner, “How Four NFT Novices Created a Billion-Dollar Ecosystem of Cartoon Apes”, in Rolling Stone",
          "text": "“I always go balls to the wall,” founding Ape Gordon Goner tells Rolling Stone over Zoom.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 June 15, Kat Moon, “Ashley Park’s Main Character Energy From ‘Joy Ride’ Is Here To Stay: ‘I’m Treating Myself Like A Lead Now’”, in Women's Health",
          "text": "“Asian women on-screen, especially in America and Hollywood, have been so sexualized and fetishized for the benefit of other people’s stories or jokes,” Ashley says. “And we’re like, ‘We’re gonna go balls to the wall, further than anyone’s gone with Asian women.’”",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "With maximum effort or commitment."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "maximum",
          "maximum"
        ],
        [
          "effort",
          "effort"
        ],
        [
          "commitment",
          "commitment"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, idiomatic, slang) With maximum effort or commitment."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "all out"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable",
        "slang"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "English idioms",
        "English slang"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Full throttle; (at) maximum speed."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Full throttle",
          "full throttle"
        ],
        [
          "speed",
          "speed"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(US, idiomatic, slang) Full throttle; (at) maximum speed."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "US",
        "idiomatic",
        "not-comparable",
        "slang"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/En-au-balls_to_the_wall.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
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      "text": "Audio (AU)"
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  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "balls-to-the-wall"
    },
    {
      "word": "balls to the walls"
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    {
      "word": "balls-to-the-walls"
    },
    {
      "word": "balls-to-the-waltz"
    }
  ],
  "word": "balls to the wall"
}