reach for the sky

English

Alternative forms

• reach for the skies

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Interjection

reach for the sky

1. Surrender (by putting your hands up)!

   Synonyms: hands up, stick 'em up

   (Can we find and add a quotation of chapter 10 from By the Great Horn Spoon! to this entry?)

Translations

surrender — see hands up

Verb

reach for the sky (third-person singular simple present reaches for the sky, present participle reaching for the sky, simple past and past participle reached for the sky)

1. (idiomatic, informal) To aim for the best possible outcome.

   Synonyms: reach for the stars, aim for the sky

   • 1993, Robert Emmett Curran, The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From academy to university, 1789-1889, Georgetown University Press, →ISBN, page 27:

     Far better to start modestly and grow gradually than to reach for the sky with grand plans that could only end in the collapse of the institution.

   • 2010, Alfred Lubrano, Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 33:

     Resigned to his blue-collar status, Donna's father's belief was “Why reach for the sky when you can be happy on earth?” Donna says, “My dad was trying to save me from disappointment. The daughter of peasant stock shouldn't strive to be in the ruling class, he thought.”

   • 2014, Gideon Arulmani, Anuradha J. Bakshi, Frederick T. L. Leong, A. G. Watts, Handbook of Career Development: International Perspectives, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 306:

     Indeed, career counseling encourages individuals to “reach for the sky.”

Translations

reach for the stars — see reach for the stars

See also

• the sky is the limit