push the envelope

From push (“to continually exert oneself in order to achieve a goal”) + the + envelope (“set of limitations within which a technological system can perform safely and effectively”) (compare flight envelope), referring to the boundary line on a graph of an aircraft’s capabilities, especially those of altitude and speed. The term was popularized by the book The Right Stuff (1979) by the American author and journalist Tom Wolfe (1930–2018) about the pilots engaged in United States postwar research with experimental rocket-powered, high-speed aircraft, and the first Project Mercury astronauts selected for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s human spaceflight program.

• "They pushed the envelope on pricing derivatives."
• "Aerial photography was coming into its own, and flying shutterbugs pushed the envelope, striving to outsnap each other."
• "This is basically why I’ve enjoyed the rise of Huckabee and Paul: Not because I agree with them on an issue-by-issue basis, but because they’re willing to push the envelope a bit, and expand the definition of what a conservative can stand for in ways that I think are ultimately healthy for the party."
• "Marketing to consumers can still be a minefield […] but diaper manufacturers—confident that the embarrassment factor can be overcome—are determined to push the envelope."
• ""You've got to keep pushing the envelope in terms of what else you can do," he says. "It's all about trying - to use that horrible management phrase - to 'sweat the asset'.""

• push the edge of the envelope
• stretch the envelope

• raise the bar
• push it