balls to the wall

adverb

US, informal + sometimes offensive

: with maximum effort or power : all out

It's either get there when you get there or go balls to the wall. There's no in between.

—Joe McKinney, Dead City, 2006

balls-to-the-wall adjective

a balls-to-the-wall effort

Word History

First Known Use

1975, in the meaning defined above

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