Etymology

This phrase was coined before or during World War Two by American aircraft pilots. The throttle levers, or accelerators in the aircraft had round tops, that looked like balls. To put the "balls to the wall" was to advance the levers all the way forward, making the aircraft fly as fast as possible (the wall was the firewall in the aircraft). It now means to carry out an action as quickly as possible.

Noun

1. Maximum speed.
2. Maximum effort or commitment.
   • 2006, Michael D. Brown, Testimony before the US Senate Homeland Security Committee:

     I told the staff...the day before the hurricane struck that I expected them to cut every piece of red tape, do everything they could, that it was balls to the wall, that I didn't want to hear anybody say that we couldn't do anything—to do everything they humanly could to respond.