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💡 Very innovative 🚧 A start ceremony
groundbreaking

groundbreaking

11 4.4
A ceremony that marks the start of construction by digging the first bit of soil
  • noun
  • /ˈɡraʊndˌbreɪkɪŋ/
  • Formal
translation icon : colocación de la primera piedra
  • You are invited to the groundbreaking ceremony for the new community center next week.

Yeah, nice to have you back after being here for the groundbreaking of this very studio.

Examples

  • The year 2000 also saw groundbreaking for a $20 million National Ethanol Research Pilot Plant in Edwardsville, Illinois.

    Academic text (2002)

  • The official groundbreaking is Monday in Arizona, May 2nd, at which point SPOT will pay Dunsinane Construction three million dollars.

    Plain Clothes (1988)

  • Yeah, nice to have you back after being here for the groundbreaking of this very studio.

    H3 Podcast

  • You know that the groundbreaking for the City on the Hill is in a few days.

    Salvation Boulevard (2011)

  • And we look forward to seeing all of you at the groundbreaking.

    Two Weeks Notice (2002)

  • I wangled you a pass to the groundbreaking.

    Breathless (1983)

  • Today, Benson made a brief stop in Fergus Falls, Virginia - for a groundbreaking of a library.

    Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993)

  • Exalted Movements singers kicked off the groundbreaking for the University Commons in their red "hard" hats.

    Blog text (26)

  • Groundbreaking for a neighboring correctional facility will be this fall, with completion in 18-24 months.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The official groundbreaking took place on Washington's Birthday, 1913, at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island.

    Academic text (2002)

Synonyms

groundbreaking ceremony
vsgroundbreaking
  • Formal
4 3.9

An event that marks the start of building work, often with people turning the first soil

is the same ceremony but expressed with a simpler shorter name
ground-breaking
vsgroundbreaking
1 5.0

Showing new ideas or marking the start of building work

refers only to the ceremony of starting construction not to innovation
ground-breaking ceremony
vsgroundbreaking
  • Formal
4.1

An event that marks the official start of building work

focuses on the ceremonial turning of the first sod

Compounds

groundbreaking ceremony
  • Formal
4 3.9

An event that marks the start of building work, often with people turning the first soil

Surface Forms

groundbreaking singular
groundbreakings plural

Morphology

groundbreaking = ground + break (semi-transparent) = ground + break + ing

Formed from 'ground' + 'break' + '-ing' (i.e., the action of breaking ground); the link to the ceremonial noun is derivable but relies on the idiomatic event 'breaking ground'.

Etymology

The word groundbreaking as a noun comes from the simple act of physically breaking the ground to start a building, and a groundbreaking is the small ceremony where people turn the first sod to mark the project's start.