to push it
39
5.3
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
darlo todo
- I'll try not to, you know, push it quite as hard at the gym.
- push it too far
- push it hard
- try to push it
Why wouldn't we take this grand challenge and and push it as hard as we can?
- Why wouldn't we take this grand challenge and and push it as hard as we can?
- One was I was really pushing it and and really testing myself physically.
- Like it's this big boulder and you've been pushing it.
Examples
-
If we push it a bit further, we might achieve the results we aim for.
-
Why wouldn't we take this grand challenge and and push it as hard as we can?
-
I just never had the time to pull resources from other projects to push it forward.
Blog text (4) -
Okay, I underestimated what we were up against, and I pushed it too far.
-
Twenty-five kilometers in one day was pushing it, though she should have known that.
Fiction book (1998) -
I think we should continue to promote positive incentives for Iran and at the same time push it to make all its programs transparent and open.
Academic text (2010) -
The team decided to push it harder this quarter to exceed their sales targets.
-
She always pushes it to improve her skills in every competition she enters.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To make an effort to do something difficult
731
1.5
To try hard to achieve something, especially against difficulty
87
4.2
To use a lot of effort to do something difficult
53
3.5
Make a special effort to do something, often to help someone
39
4.1
To try as hard as you can with a lot of energy
39
3.6
To keep going despite problems until you finish
33
7.3
To try new ideas that go beyond accepted limits
26
3.7
To do more than is required to help others or complete a task
26
4.1
Try very hard to make something happen
21
3.7
Move forward or keep going despite difficulty
19
3.1
To keep making progress despite problems
7
4.2
Do everything you can to achieve something important
7
5.1
Make a person or thing work as hard as possible until they cannot keep going
4
3.5
Try much harder to work or train
3
5.0
Make a lot of effort to do something
2
7.5
To start working very hard to reach a goal
1
7.2
Use all your energy and take big risks to test your skill
1
5.9
To try very hard and do anything to achieve something
1
4.4
To try harder or work faster to reach a goal
1
6.9
To make a big effort beyond your usual limits
To work as hard as you can, often more than expected
To try very hard and work quickly to finish something
To work much harder and faster to get something done
Try hard to do a difficult task and succeed a little
Antonyms
How Hard
Surface Forms
Morphology
push + it
The verb 'push' carries a clear sense of exerting force or effort which maps onto 'making a special effort', so a learner who knows 'push' could partially infer the intended meaning. However, the pronoun 'it' is vague and the phrase is used idiomatically in contexts like 'don't push it' (meaning 'don't overdo it' or 'don't push your luck'), so the exact sense and range of uses are not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Push it comes from a clear image: you push something heavy — the 'it' — like a car up a hill, so you must use extra effort. So, to push it means 'to make a special effort' or 'to try harder than usual'.