Push the envelope means going beyond the usual limits, trying what nobody has dared to try, in art, technology or cooking. The envelope here isn't paper but a pilots' word: the range of speed and height a plane can safely handle. It's usually praise for boldness, but it can also hint that someone went too far.
When would you say push the envelope?
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push the envelope; push the envelope in + field
- The studio keeps pushing the envelope with its unusual stage designs.
- The chef pushed the envelope by serving dessert before the main course.
- There is a difference between pushing the envelope and ignoring safety rules.
What changed
First versionThe designers want to push an envelope with this collection.
RevisionThe designers want to push the envelope with this collection.
Any envelope can be an envelope, so an seems fine. But the idiom is fixed: push the envelope, always with the. With an, it turns into pushing some random envelope, and the figurative meaning disappears.
Think outside the box means finding an unusual solution. Push the envelope means going further than is normally done: The chef pushed the envelope by serving dessert first. Go the extra mile means doing more than asked, but in an ordinary way.
Your turn
Use the idiom for going beyond established limits: The festival encourages artists to push ___ envelope.
Show the answer
the — The idiom always takes the: push the envelope. With an, it's just some envelope.
Describe an artist, chef or team who did something others didn't dare to try. Use push the envelope.
The theatre pushes the envelope by letting the audience choose where the final scene takes place.
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