Meaning of under one's own steam | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Of the movement of a locomotive or a watercraft: by means of the power of its own engines (originally steam engines), rather than pulled or pushed by another vehicle.
2. Using one's own resources; independently, unaided.
   figuratively, idiomatic
3. At one's own initiative; of one's own accord, unbidden, unprompted.
   figuratively, idiomatic

Equivalents

Examples

“Now the tug no longer moved under her own steam, nor had it been since coming alongside the wall of the central pier. For all vessels must be towed through the lock basins, and towed not by other craft, but by electric locomotives that run alongside, on top of the concrete walls.”

“By Tuesday evening the track had been cleared to the three snowbound engines, and the following day, under their own steam, they were moved away; the business of relighting their fires and raising steam in such conditions is better imagined than described.”

“"People come at their own risk, at their own expense, under their own steam," said Mhairi McKenzie-Robinson, chief administrator of the Fringe [Edinburgh Fringe Festival].”

“After the event, [Steve] Jobs even briefly joined the media where Apple's new product line was being shown. He walked under his own steam, of course, easily and without any apparent discomfort. […] Whether Jobs's health is in decline or not, it's undeniable that the past five years have been the most fertile of his magnificent career.”

“I'd been wanting her to go for a long, long time, hoping she'd get up the gumption to do it under her own steam so I wouldn't have to make a scene about it.”

CEFR level