full tilt

adverb

variants or at full tilt
: at high speed
running full tilt
So here they come, full tilt. We could hear them because they wore boots and yelled, …Mark Twain
Just at that moment, a hare appeared over the hill running at full tilt, and I was cursing my numb fingers as I tried to follow it with my camera.Erin Espelie

Examples of full tilt in a Sentence

during the war the nation's factories were going full tilt the fleeing robber ran full tilt down the hill
Recent Examples on the Web In terms of performance, the 120 is powered by twin MTU 12V 2000 engines and can reach 20 knots at full tilt. Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 23 Feb. 2024 Meanwhile, the Democratic leadership’s spin machine was in full tilt on Tuesday. Grace Segers, The New Republic, 31 May 2023 The Russian war machine is running at full tilt and has a much larger pool of men to draw from than Ukraine to replenish its ranks. Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, 10 Feb. 2024 Russia has a population three times the size of Ukraine’s, and its military industrial base is operating at full tilt. Thomas Gibbons-Neff Finbarr O’Reilly, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2024 According to Candela, the C-8 can reach up to 30 knots at full tilt. Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 16 Nov. 2023 Factors such as pricing trends or the sales mix of the model range are also important, but at the end of the day most carmakers will always prioritize running their production plants at full tilt whenever possible. Bychristiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2023 Just as there’s a difference between bringing your car to a halt by gentle application of the brake versus ramming it full tilt into a brick wall, so too should a rapid rate of climate change concern us. David Robert Grimes, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2023 Equipped with a hybrid diesel-electric propulsion system, the vessel can hit 18 knots at full tilt and cover 4,000 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 12 knots. Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 26 Sep. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'full tilt.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

tilt entry 2

First Known Use

1679, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of full tilt was in 1679

Dictionary Entries Near full tilt

Cite this Entry

“Full tilt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/full%20tilt. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

full tilt

adverb
: at high speed : very fast
running full tilt
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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