breaking ground
Beginning something new
Breaking ground is beginning construction on a site, literally turning the first shovel of earth: The company is breaking ground on a new headquarters next month.
By extension, it means pioneering or doing something innovative—entering territory no one has explored before: Her research is breaking ground in cancer treatment.
- trenchingExcavating long narrow cuts
- bulldozingDemolishing by pushing over
- trailblazingBeing the first through
- earthSoil or electrical grounding
- construction siteWhere edifices get erected
earthmoving · heavy equipment · excavation · dig · inventing · pioneering · milestone · turning point · ceremony · dedication · frontier · pave the way · blessing · virgin · cornerstone · uncharted · foundation · dirt
- ceremonieswedding ceremony, wedding, weddings, graduation, graduations
- initiativetake action, taking initiative, go for it, initiating, take the lead
- pioneeringexploration, discovery, invention, founding, breakthrough
- progressprogress, in progress, promotion, raise, making progress
- construction statusunder construction, completed, planned, in progress, on hold
- tillagetilling, plowing, conservation tillage, no-till, furrowing
breaking groundderivative
Function's rate of change
unoriginal · imitative · copying · conventional · rehashing
breaking groundfinishing
Bringing to completion
demolishing · tearing down · razing · wrapping up · closing out
breaking groundstanding pat
Refusing to change
conserving · stagnating · resting on one's laurels · playing it safe · business as usual
break, ground, broken, breaking, unbroken, grounds, unbreakable, breaker, grounded