from the ground up
Starting from nothing
From the ground up means starting from the very beginning or the most basic level, building something completely from scratch.
The image is of constructing a building from its foundation rather than renovating an existing structure: She built the company from the ground up.
It emphasizes thoroughness and completeness—nothing inherited, everything created anew.
- thoroughlyIn complete detail
- basicsFoundational knowledge of something
- buildingEnclosed roofed structure
- brick by brickGradually, through incremental effort
- foundationUnderlying support structure
establishment · startup · construction · beginning · day one · fundamentals · first principles · creation · grassroots · cornerstone · scratch · starting fresh · fresh start · underpinning · completeness · bootstrapping · bottom up · essentials
- constructionconstruction site, building site, hammer, building, beam
from the ground uppiecemeal
In separate stages
halfway · partially · incompletely · retrofitted · modified
from the ground uptop-down
Directed from highest level
from on high · superficially · on the surface · hierarchically
from the ground upsuperficially
At surface level only
cosmetically · on the surface · skin-deep · at the edges · incrementally
ground, grounds, grounded, grounding, groundless, underground, groundwork