intensity

See Also: SHARPNESS, STARES

1. Acute as the badness of no woman out in the world thinking about you —Richard Ford
2. Acute like the flow of hope —Joseph Turnley
3. As deep into … as a sheep is thick in wool —Anon
4. Burns like hate —George MacDonald
5. (Worries and obsessions that) come like hot rivets —Wilfrid Sheed
6. Deep as first love —Alfred, Lord Tennyson
7. Deep as earth —Madeleine L’Engle
8. Deep as hell —Beaumont and Fletcher
9. Digging in deeper and deeper, like rats in a cheese —Henry Miller
10. (Lonely and) furious as a hunt —George Garrett
11. Had a startling intensity of gaze that never wavered from its object, like that of a palmist or a seer —Mary McCarthy
12. (Curiosity) heating up like an iron —Susan Fromberg Schaeffer
13. Move through life with the intensity of one for whom each day is the last —Anon
14. Run deep, like old wounds —William Brammer
15. Sharp as a pincer —Julia O’Faolain
16. With the intensity of a cat following a rolling ball of yarn —Ira Berkow on Wade Boggs, Red Sox player’s watching of a pitch, New York Times, October 7, 1986

back and edge Wholeheartedly, vigorously; entirely, completely. The allusion is to the thin sharpened side of a blade, or “edge,” and the blunt side of the same blade, or “back.” Together the two sides constitute the whole of the blade; thus the figurative extension in meaning to ‘completely,’ ‘wholeheartedly’ ‘with one’s entire self ’

blow up a storm To engage in any activity with such enthusiasm and vigor as to effect a noticeable change in one’s surroundings; also with the implication of being so caught up in the activity as to get carried away one-self. The most plausible explanation says the term comes from jazz trumpeting; another holds it stems from the storm of dust raised from the pit floor by the spectacular beating of wings and flurry of movement in a cockfight. Though blow up a storm appears to be the oldest and still most frequently heard form, up a storm itself is now commonly appended as an adverbial intensifier to many verbs of physical activity—one can work “up a storm,” sing “up a storm,” dance “up a storm,” and so on.

full blast Maximum capacity, strength, volume, or speed; full swing; often in the phrase in or at full blast. In use as early as the 1830s, this phrase apparently originally connoted exaggerated or extreme behavior, appearance, etc., based on the following quotation from Frederick Marryat’s Diary in America II (1839):

Although the expression’s origin is unknown^ it may be related to the use of blast in relation to machinery: air forced into a furnace by a blower to increase the rate of combustion.

full tilt At maximum speed, force, strength, or capacity; straight at or for, directly. This expression is said to have come from the way knights rode straight for one another at full gallop and with lances tilted when jousting. The phrase, which dates from about 1600, appears in Frederic E. Gretton’s Memory’s Harkback through Haifa-century (1805-58):

go great guns See PROSPERING.

go to town See PROSPERING.

hammer and tongs Forcefully, violently, strenuously; energetically, vigorously, wholeheartedly. A blacksmith uses tongs to hold the hot iron as he pounds and hammers it into shape. To go at anything hammer and tongs is to exert similar strength and force to accomplish a goal.

head over heels Intensely, completely, totally; rashly, impetuously. This expression, dating from the late 18th century, is a corruption of heels over head, which dates from the 14th century; both relate literally to body movement, as in a somersault. A similar phrase dating from the late 19th century is head over ears, a corruption of over head and ears ‘completely or deeply immersed or involved.’

like a house afire See PACE.

swear like a trooper See PROFANITY.

to beat the band Vigorously, enthusiastically, intently, rapidly. To perform any activity with great force and gusto, so as to drown out or exceed the tempo of the band, as it were. The expression dates from the turn of the century.

tooth and nail Fiercely, vigorously, with all one’s powers and resources. Despite its physical connotations of clawing, biting, and scratching, this phrase is almost always used figuratively. Such usage dates from the 16th century.

with might and main Vigorously, strenuously; using one’s powers and resources to the utmost. The obsolete main is synonymous with might ‘power, strength’ and continues in the language only in this phrase as an intensifier—with might and main being a bit more forceful and somewhat more formal than with all one’s might