push the envelope

phrase

: to go beyond the usual or normal limits by doing something new, dangerous, etc.
a director who has pushed the envelope in his recent films
a new airplane design that pushes the envelope

Examples of push the envelope in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
While these machines don't push the envelope in any real way, they're designed to deliver dependable productivity for a long period of time. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 8 Oct. 2026 But, as developers across the board push the envelope for cutting-edge graphics, buying a PC or video card that can run the RPG smoothly—without turning it into a pool of pixel mush or a stutter fest at one frame per second—can be expensive. — Aman Kumar, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Sep. 2026 Anthropic and OpenAI argue that these new releases push the envelope at the frontier (albeit mostly in modest ways), while bringing costs substantially down. — Samuel Axon, ArsTechnica, 22 Sep. 2026 Also, in producing more original films, which push the envelope on narrative or visuals, filmmakers are making a virtue out of a market necessity. — John Hopewell, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for push the envelope

Rhymes for push the envelope

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Browse Nearby Words

push the boat out
push the envelope
push the right buttons
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Cite this Entry

“Push the envelope.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/push%20the%20envelope. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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