flat out

flat out idiom
  1. In a direct manner, bluntly. For example, He told the true story flat out. [Colloquial; mid-1900s]
  2. At top speed, as in She was running flat out to catch the train. [Slang; c. 1930]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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