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To push the envelope means to go beyond the usual limits or try new and risky ideas. People use this idiom to talk about when someone experiments instead of staying within safe or familiar boundaries.
The expression comes from aviation and engineering. The flight envelope describes the safe limits of an aircraft's speed, altitude, and performance, so pushing the envelope means testing those limits.
The expression comes from aviation and engineering. The flight envelope describes the safe limits of an aircraft's speed, altitude, and performance, so pushing the envelope means testing those limits.
The designers wanted to push the envelope and create something people had never seen before.