front burner

noun

Informal. a condition or position of top priority:
Put the project on the front burner and finish it as soon as possible.

First recorded in 1965–70; by analogy with back burner

Basketball observers who have given him the out-of-sight, out-of-mind treatment should respond by moving him to the front burner.

But Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told the Associated Press today that plans for a no-fly zone are “not on the front burner.”

The new Kashmiri intifada has put the issue back on the front burner.

And not long after he was elected, he pushed the issue to the front burner of his agenda.

A new fuss over the public option would necessarily return health care to the front-burner and chew up a bunch of time.

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