English · Idiom Candidate

at full tilt

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

With maximum energy or effort

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

With tối đa năng lượng hoặc nỗ lực

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: running or moving at full speed

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

Johnson converted, but then struck a poor clearance, which was fielded at full tilt by Dave Kenyon, driving Northern back to their line.

I also tried a Mesa Boogie 1x12 Theile cabinet and while the sound was slightly boxier it still sounded like Vox's finest at full tilt.

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Equivalents & related

Near equivalent ba chân bốn cẳng (adverb) at full tilt; at maximum speed; in a flash; on the double; like a bat out of hell Tiếng Việt Near equivalent on the double to do something quickly or immediately English · via ba chân bốn cẳng

Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.

Common questions

What does “at full tilt” mean?

With maximum energy or effort Literally: running or moving at full speed

Is “at full tilt” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

What is the closest equivalent?

“ba chân bốn cẳng” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.