balls to the wall

English

Etymology

Perhaps coined by pilots whose throttle levers had round, ball-like tops, and for whom putting the "balls to the wall" (the firewall of the aircraft) meant making the aircraft fly as quickly as possible.

Adverb

balls to the wall (not comparable)

1. (US, idiomatic, slang) Full throttle; maximum speed.
2. (US, idiomatic) Maximum effort or commitment.
   • 2006, Michael D. Brown, Testimony before the US Senate Homeland Security Committee:

     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.