cylinder

To function or operate at the most desirable or greatest possible level of efficiency, speed, or productivity. (Usually used in the continuous tense.) The new website will be firing on all cylinders once we get the comments section up and running! I only fire on all cylinders after I've had my coffee.

To operate, perform, function, or proceed exceptionally well or at the greatest possible speed or efficiency. We'll be hitting on all cylinders if we get Janet to join our team.

The metal casing that fits onto a cylinder block in an internal-combustion engine. A: "Did dad say what's wrong with the car?" B: "I don't know, something about needing to fix the cylinder head, whatever that means!"

operating as powerfully and effectively as possible Doctors say Mary will be firing on all cylinders after two months of physical therapy.

to be operating as powerfully and effectively as possible Dawson will be firing on all cylinders after 2 months of fitness training.

Also, hit or click on all cylinders . Function very well, as in Once we figured out how to use the new software, the department was firing on all cylinders , or "So the best infielder takes time to fit into the infield of a Big League club and have it hit on all four cylinders again" (Christy Mathewson, Pitching in a Pinch, 1912). This term transfers the functioning of an internal combustion engine, which works best when all its cylinders ignite, to broader use. [Early 1900s]