at the top of (one's) lungs

As loudly as one can. I've hardly slept because my infant has been crying at the top of her lungs all night. Sing at the top of your lungs so that the people in the last row of the auditorium can hear you! Kids, can you please stop screaming at the top of your lungs?

at the top of one's lungs

Also, at the top of one's voice. With an extremely loud voice. For example, The babies in the nursery all were crying at the top of their lungs. The noun top here refers to the greatest degree of volume (that is, loudest) rather than high pitch, a usage dating from the mid-1500s.

See also: lung, of, top

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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References in periodicals archive

It's time to declare, at the top of one's lungs, that competitors need coaches who are artists, not mere craftspersons who only concern themselves with technique.

Why Petipa is losing at competitions: a former principal ballerina at Kirov Ballet laments the spreading debasement of its precious Petipa legacy

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