lay the groundwork
Set things up
To lay the groundwork is to do the preliminary work necessary for something to succeed.
The metaphor is from construction—preparing a foundation before building.
Years of research laid the groundwork for the discovery.
You might lay the groundwork for a project, a relationship, or future negotiations.
- pave the wayPrepare conditions for advancement
- prepareMake ready beforehand
- buildCreate a structure
- baseSupporting bottom structure
- set the stagePrepare conditions for events
establish · get the ball rolling · spadework · blueprint · underpinning · trailblaze · paving the way · cornerstone · strategize · bedrock · initiate · paving · precedent · prime · footing · benchmark · map out · setup
lay the groundworkwrap up
Complete and conclude
culminate · finalize · cap off · close out · tie up loose ends
lay the groundworkwing it
Act without preparation
fly by the seat of one's pants · improvise · play it by ear · cut corners
work, ground, layer, foundation, layers, grounded, groundwork, grounding, layman