fire on all cylinders

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, hit or click on all cylinders . Function very well, as in Once we figured out how to use the new software, the department was firing on all cylinders , or “So the best infielder takes time to fit into the infield of a Big League club and have it hit on all four cylinders again” (Christy Mathewson, Pitching in a Pinch , 1912). This term transfers the functioning of an internal combustion engine, which works best when all its cylinders ignite, to broader use. [Early 1900s]

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

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