hyperdrive

[ hahy-per-drahyv ]

noun

1. (in science fiction) a mode or function of a spaceship’s engine that enables it to travel at speeds faster than light, typically by moving through hyperspace:

   Sabotage caused the robot to accelerate the spacecraft into hyperdrive.

   In the movie, they had to activate the hyperdrive to keep their spaceship from falling into the sun.

2. overdrive:

   Monsoon is the season when all of India goes into sowing-planting-growing hyperdrive.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hyperdrive¹

First recorded in 1950–55; hyper- ( def ) + drive ( def ), perhaps based on hyperspace ( def ) and overdrive ( def )

Example Sentences

Family films often go into hyperdrive in the summer, capitalizing on long days out of school.

From Seattle Times

Many gastrointestinal cancers grow uncontrollably when a mutation sets a key biological pathway that governs cell growth, called Wnt, on hyperdrive.

From Science Daily

Lactate appears to send a signal through the receptor that kicks fat cell metabolism into hyperdrive, the team found.

From Science Magazine

Music also has made an unsettling shift over the years, from lyrics of intense longing to hyperdrive moments of half love, a paradigm that continues to leave Usher confused.

From Los Angeles Times

When New York magazine dedicated a late-2022 cover story to nepotism in show business, it crystallized a phrase that had gained steam all year and sent the discourse into hyperdrive.

From Slate