overdrive
noun
over·drive ˈō-vər-ˌdrīv 
1
: an automotive transmission gear that transmits to the drive shaft a speed greater than engine speed
2
: a state of heightened activity
going into rhetorical overdrive
Example Sentences
He put the car into overdrive. His acting career is in overdrive. The reporters went into overdrive to finish their stories on time.
Recent Examples on the Web Despite bad vibes from some customers, automation at the supermarket has kicked into overdrive. 
Rachel Wolfe, WSJ, 14 Sep. 2022 The basic tracking for the album was mostly done before the pandemic but once things started shutting down, Dear Boy shifted into overdrive. John Paul Bullock, SPIN, 13 Sep. 2022 What this suggests, Pascual-Torner said, is that DNA that’s normally in storage is brought out during the transformation, and genes that coax cells to reset go into overdrive. Veronique Greenwood, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Sep. 2022 But Angelenos enjoying a few months of relative summer respite should batten the hatches, as campaigning will almost certainly go back into overdrive after Labor Day. Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2022 The advent of fast fashion kicked textile manufacturing into overdrive, with production doubling between 2000 to 2015. Ian Mount, Fortune, 16 Aug. 2022 Both members of the chart-topping Grammy-nominated rap trio Migos, Quavo and Takeoff sent the rumor mills into overdrive after releasing a pair of tracks as a duo this year. Kyle Denis, Billboard, 15 Aug. 2022 Psoraisis thought to be an immune dysregulation around skin cells that causes the cells in the top layer of skin to go into overdrive. Mona Gohara, Good Housekeeping, 11 Aug. 2022 That would have been momentous enough, but what kicked the story into overdrive was what happened next: A Rhode Island expert named D.K. Abbass, whose organization collaborated with the museum for years, forcefully pushed back. Brian Amaral, BostonGlobe.com, 11 Aug. 2022 See More
Rachel Wolfe, WSJ, 14 Sep. 2022 The basic tracking for the album was mostly done before the pandemic but once things started shutting down, Dear Boy shifted into overdrive. John Paul Bullock, SPIN, 13 Sep. 2022 What this suggests, Pascual-Torner said, is that DNA that’s normally in storage is brought out during the transformation, and genes that coax cells to reset go into overdrive. Veronique Greenwood, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Sep. 2022 But Angelenos enjoying a few months of relative summer respite should batten the hatches, as campaigning will almost certainly go back into overdrive after Labor Day. Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2022 The advent of fast fashion kicked textile manufacturing into overdrive, with production doubling between 2000 to 2015. Ian Mount, Fortune, 16 Aug. 2022 Both members of the chart-topping Grammy-nominated rap trio Migos, Quavo and Takeoff sent the rumor mills into overdrive after releasing a pair of tracks as a duo this year. Kyle Denis, Billboard, 15 Aug. 2022 Psoraisis thought to be an immune dysregulation around skin cells that causes the cells in the top layer of skin to go into overdrive. Mona Gohara, Good Housekeeping, 11 Aug. 2022 That would have been momentous enough, but what kicked the story into overdrive was what happened next: A Rhode Island expert named D.K. Abbass, whose organization collaborated with the museum for years, forcefully pushed back. Brian Amaral, BostonGlobe.com, 11 Aug. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1926, in the meaning defined at sense 1