head of steam | Idiomator

Meaning: (idiomatic)A significant amount ofenergy,vigourormomentum, sufficient to make progress or succeed in a task.1919,Joseph Conrad,Typhoon:"They were keeping a full head of steam, and a profound rumbling, as of an empty furniture van trotting over a bridge, made a sustained bass to all the other noises of the place."1945September and October, O. S. Nock, “Wartime Locomotive Working on the G.W.R.—2”, inRailway Magazine, page255:Soon after passing the site of Stretfordbridge Junction Edwards opened out to 25 per cent; boiler pressure was still full up, and Taylor was spreading what was left of the fire so as to arrive in Shrewsbury with only a lighthead of steam.1961March, "Dalmore", “Driving and firing modern French steam steam locomotives”, inTrains Illustrated, page150:[literal sense] Caffiers and Boulogne were passed with a full boiler and a fullhead of steam, and going up Neufchâtel I couldn't stop her blowing off.2011January 25, Paul Fletcher, “Arsenal 3 - 0 Ipswich (agg 3 - 1)”, inBBC‎[1]:Arsenal were starting to work up ahead of steamand Tractor Boys boss Paul Jewell cut an increasingly frustrated figure on the touchline.2021March 10, Greg Morse, “Telling the railway's story on film”, inRAIL, number926, page43:[literal sense] The film is really about the driver taking control of his charge... the fireman creating a finehead of steam... the signalman keeping the traffic moving safely... [...].; Used other than figuratively or idiomatically:seehead,‎steam.

Examples:

EN: Chief, keep up a full head of steam.
ES: Jefe, a todo vapor.
EN: Full head of steam on all the time!
ES: A toda máquina en todo momento.
EN: Captain, get up a head of steam.
ES: Capitán, tenga la máquina a punto.
EN: Tugboat Annie's back again with a full head of steam.
ES: Remolcadora Annie ha vuelto y está hecha una furia.
EN: You should have seen the head of steam she had worked up this morning.
ES: Deberías haber visto con qué energía estaba esta mañana.
EN: Well, with that head of steam she had worked up this morning, it's more likely she exploded.
ES: Bueno, con la energía que le viste esta mañana, ...es más probable que haya explotado.
EN: Ain't nobody in Africa except yours truly can get up a good head of steam on the old African Queen.
ES: En todo el continente africano no hay nadie que pueda capitanear el Reina Africana como yo.
EN: Get a good head of steam up, and then point the launch toward a ship, and just before she hits, we could dive off, couldn't we?
ES: Juntar mucho vapor y apuntar contra el buque, y justo antes de chocar, nos zambullimos, ¿verdad?
EN: Question is, will she stand up under a full head of steam?
ES: La pregunta es si resistirá a toda velocidad.
EN: I guess everything in the engine room was going well for we was keeping up a fair head of steam. Oh, yes, I forgot.
ES: Supongo que todo en la sala de máquinas iba bien por el hermoso penacho de humo que nos cubría.
EN: and Luke the engineer's got a full head of steam in this tar bucket.
ES: Luke, el ingeniero, tiene mucho vapor en ese barril de alquitrán.
EN: By Jove, after all these years, she can still build up a fine head of steam.
ES: Por Júpiter, después de todos estos años, aún puede adquirir una linda velocidad.
EN: What if somebody decided to build up a head of steam and struck a match to it?
ES: ¿Y si alguien decidiera ponerlo en marcha?
EN: He's a strange man and he's workin' up a big head of steam.
ES: Es un hombre extraño y está tomando gran impulso.
EN: You're not gettin' up much of a head of steam, Reuben.
ES: No estás avanzando nada, Reuben.

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