Idiom
head of steam
Meaning
A significant amount of energy, vigour or momentum, sufficient to make progress or succeed in a task.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The team has a head of steam and will finish the project today.”
“He builds up a head of steam when he works on his hobby.”
“After a slow start, the campaign gained a head of steam and reached thousands of new voters.”
“The new restaurant picked up a head of steam after a famous food critic shared a positive review on social media.”
“I finally have a head of steam with my studies, so I want to finish two more chapters before I take a break.”
“Once the movement gathered a sufficient head of steam, it became impossible for the local authorities to ignore the growing public demand for reform.”
Examples
simple
“The team has a head of steam and will finish the project today.”
“He builds up a head of steam when he works on his hobby.”
contextual
“After a slow start, the campaign gained a head of steam and reached thousands of new voters.”
“The new restaurant picked up a head of steam after a famous food critic shared a positive review on social media.”
“I finally have a head of steam with my studies, so I want to finish two more chapters before I take a break.”
complex
“Once the movement gathered a sufficient head of steam, it became impossible for the local authorities to ignore the growing public demand for reform.”
Origin
The term originates as a metaphor for the literal requirements of the steam locomotive. It denotes the accumulation of internal pressure within a boiler, which was required to reach a specific threshold before the engine could achieve movement. The figurative application followed this mechanical necessity, equating the build-up of physical vapour with the gathering of momentum.
Key words
Related idioms
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