PUSH THE ENVELOPE Definition & Meaning

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push the envelope

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Idioms and Phrases

Exceed the limits of what is normally done, be innovative, as in They are pushing the envelope in using only new fabrics for winter clothing . This idiom comes from aviation, the envelope alluding to the technical limits of a plane's performance, which, on a graph, appear as a rising slope as limits of speed and stress are approached and falls off when the capacity is exceeded and the pilot loses control; safety lies within these limits, or envelope , and exceeding them exposes pilot and plane to risk. [ Slang ; late 1960s]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“We’re going to have habits that lead us to those places,” she added, “and now we’ve got to push the envelope.”

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Over the course of time I'm able to communicate with folks and build people, start to really name the different directions that we could be going in from a policy standpoint, and push the envelope in a way that I hope is constructive, that I hope creates an appetite for a real, thoughtful innovative approach.

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Experts have underscored how, with the entertainment landscape exploding, digital content creators often feel compelled to push the envelope - even if it means resorting to the risqué and lewd - just to gain views and virality.

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That doesn’t mean making changes for the sake of making changes, but the NFL commissioner encourages alterations that push the envelope.

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Donald Trump was psychologically incapable of admitting that he lost and certain people around him were more than willing to push the envelope to see if they could get away with overturning the results of an election.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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