Would Pull out All the Stops?

To pull out all the stops means to make every possible effort or use all available resources to achieve an end. ... The “stops” in this instance originally refer to the stop knobs on a pipe organ, which are used to regulate the instrument's sound by selecting which sets of pipes are active at a given time.

Who said pull out all the stops?

The phrase was first used in its modern form in 1865 when the writer Matthew Arnold said “knowing how unpopular a task one is undertaking when one tries to pull out a few more stops in that …

When you exercise pull out all the stops so that you can put the pedal to the metal?

A term from auto racing coined in the 1970s, it refers to the fact that in racing cars the floor under the gas pedal is naked metal. When the driver pressed the pedal down to the metal, he or she was giving the engine the most gas possible. It may become a cliché.

James H. Sterling

James H. Sterling

Environmental Science & Climate Journalist

James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.