break ground

English

breaking ground (sense 1) for the construction of a fire station

Alternative forms

• break land

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

break ground (third-person singular simple present breaks ground, present participle breaking ground, simple past broke ground, past participle broken ground)

2. (literally) To begin digging in the earth at the start of a new construction, or, originally, for cultivation.

   They broke ground on the new library last month.

   • 1913, Willa Cather, O Pioneers!, chapter 2:

     Try to break a little more land every year; sod corn is good for fodder. Keep turning the land, and always put up more hay than you need.

   • 2021 July 14, Paul Stephen, “A portal into the future”, in RAIL, number 935, page 52:

     Just over a year on from Notice-to-Proceed, HS2 Ltd launched the first of ten tunnel boring machines (TBMs) that will dig 64 miles of tunnels on Phase 1. Florence broke ground on May 13, and was joined by Cecilia in the week commencing June 29 [...] to bore a pair of ten-mile-long tunnels beneath the Chilterns.

   • 2024 January 24, Peter Plisner, “Rising to the University challenge”, in RAIL, number 1001, page 61:

     Then there's the archaeology. As mentioned, the new station sits on part of what used to be Metchley Roman Fort, dating back to c.48AD. Those working on the project had to stay in close contact with Historic England to gain consent whenever they broke ground.

3. (figurative) To initiate a new venture, or to advance beyond previous achievements.

   The invention breaks ground in its programming and its structure.

   • 2023 November 6, Eliza Shapiro, “Inside the Private World the Richest New Yorkers Built for Themselves”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Remedy Place, which calls itself “the world’s first social wellness club,” broke ground in the West Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles before opening its first location in New York last year.

4. (nautical, of an anchor) To lift off the sea bottom when being weighed.
5. (of an aircraft) To separate from the ground on takeoff; to become airborne.

Translations

to begin digging at the start of a new construction or for cultivation

• Finnish: raivata (fi); (idiomatic) pistää lapio maahan

to initiate a new venture; to advance beyond previous achievements

• Finnish: olla uraauurtava

nautical: of an anchor, to lift off the sea bottom

aviation: to separate from the ground on takeoff

• Finnish: nousta ilmaan, lähteä lentoon
• French: décoller (fr)

See also

• blaze a trail
• break new ground
• ground-breaking