# push the envelope

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/push-the-envelope
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To go beyond established limits; to pioneer.

## Examples

- They always push the envelope with their new designs.
- The director likes to push the envelope by using experimental filming techniques in every movie.
- By integrating artificial intelligence into traditional architecture, the firm continues to push the envelope of modern urban design.

## Origin

The term originates from the flight envelope, a mathematical graph defining the altitude and speed limitations within which an aircraft operates safely. To push the envelope is to test the boundary line of these capabilities, moving the aircraft into the unstable region where the technological system may no longer perform effectively. It was popularized in 1979 by the American author and journalist Tom Wolfe in his book, The Right Stuff. Wolfe used the phrase to describe the professional habits of pilots conducting postwar research in the United States with experimental rocket-powered aircraft. These figures, along with the first Project Mercury astronauts selected for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s human spaceflight program, made a career of inhabiting the margins of the graph until the margins gave way.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.