when or if push comes to shove, when or if matters are ultimately confronted or resolved; when or if a problem must be faced; in a crucial situation: If push comes to shove, the government will impose quotas on imports.
Origin: 1250–1300; ME pushen, poshen, posson (v.) < MF pousser, OF po(u)lser < L pulsāre.See pulsate
To apply pressure against for the purpose of moving: push a shopping cart through the aisles of a market.
To move (an object) by exerting force against it; thrust or shove.
To force (one's way): We pushed our way through the crowd.
To urge forward or urge insistently; pressure: push a child to study harder.
To bear hard upon; press.
To exert downward pressure on (a button or keyboard, for example); press.
To extend or enlarge: push society past the frontier.
Informal To approach in age: is pushing 40 and still hasn't settled down.
Slang
To promote or sell (a product): The author pushed her latest book by making appearances in bookstores.
To sell (a narcotic) illegally: push drugs.
Sports To hit (a ball) in the direction toward the dominant hand of the player propelling it, as to the right of a right-handed player.
v.
intr.
To exert outward pressure or force against something.
To advance despite difficulty or opposition; press forward.
To expend great or vigorous effort.
n.
The act of pushing; thrust: gave the door a swift push.
A vigorous or insistent effort toward an end; a drive: a push to democracy.
A provocation to action; a stimulus.
Informal Persevering energy; enterprise.
Phrasal Verb(s): push around Informal To treat or threaten to treat roughly; intimidate. push off Informal To set out; depart: The infantry patrol pushed off before dawn. push onTo continue or proceed along one's way: The path was barely visible, but we pushed on.
Idiom(s):
push paper Informal To have one's time taken up by administrative, often seemingly petty, paperwork: spent the afternoon pushing paper for the boss.
Idiom(s):
push up daisies Slang To be dead and buried: a cemetery of heroes pushing up daisies.
Idiom(s):
when/if push comes to shoveAt a point when or if all else has been taken into account and matters must be confronted, one way or another: "We extol the virtues of motherhood and bestow praise on the self-sacrificing homemaker but when push comes to shove, we give her little recognition for what she does"(Los Angeles Times).
[Middle English pusshen, from Old French poulser, pousser, from Latin pulsāre, frequentative of pellere, to strike, push; see pel-5 in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: These verbs mean to press against something in order to move it forward or aside: push a baby carriage; wind propelling a sailboat; shove a tray across a table; thrust the package into her hand. See Also Synonyms at campaign.
[poo
sh-ing] 