break new ground

verb

To begin excavating and levelling earth for a new building, or, originally, for cultivation.

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Meanings

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

present singular third person breaks new ground · participle present breaking new ground · past broke new ground · participle past broken new ground

  1. literallyTo begin excavating and levelling earth for a new building, or, originally, for cultivation.
  2. broadlyTo initiate a new venture, especially something never before attempted; to advance or innovate.

    One of the Birmingham R.C.W. diesel multiple-units on the Calder Valley service broke new ground on August 12 when it was enployed for a works excursion from Halifax to Windermere, [...].

    1962 October, “Motive Power Miscellany: London Midland Region: Central Lines”, in Modern Railways, page 280
    1 more example

    Some of these things were possible to do with earlier A.I. models. But OpenAI has broken new ground, too. According to the company, GPT-4 is more capable and accurate than the original ChatGPT, and it performs astonishingly well on a variety of tests […]

    2023 March 15, Kevin Roose, “GPT-4 Is Exciting and Scary”, in The New York Times

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
innovatepioneer

Translations

French creuser un nouveau terrain, ouvrir de nouvelles voies
  • creuser un nouveau terrainTo begin excavating and levelling earth for a new building
  • ouvrir de nouvelles voiesTo initiate a new venture
Polish rozpoczynać kopanie i wyrównywanie ziemi pod nowy budynek lub uprawę, rozpocząć kopanie i wyrównywanie ziemi pod nowy budynek lub uprawę
  • rozpoczynać kopanie i wyrównywanie ziemi pod nowy budynek lub uprawęTo begin excavating and levelling earth for a new building
  • rozpocząć kopanie i wyrównywanie ziemi pod nowy budynek lub uprawęTo begin excavating and levelling earth for a new building
  • być pioneremTo initiate a new venture
Spanish abrir brecha
  • abrir brechaTo initiate a new venture
Cite this entry
APA

break new ground. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20new%20ground

MLA

“break new ground.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20new%20ground. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “break new ground,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/break%20new%20ground.

Source: break new ground on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.