keep the ball rolling

present singular third person keeps the ball rolling · participle present keeping the ball rolling · participle past kept the ball rolling · past kept the ball rolling

1. idiomaticTo continue an action indicated in the context; to sustain a process.

   The video accrued tens of thousands of views overnight. Four days later, inspired to keep the ball rolling, she made another about the same date. It’s since been viewed 4.2 million times.

   2023 March 1, Rachel Ellison, “Bad Dates Turn Out to Be Excellent on TikTok”, in The New York Times

   3 more examples

   Then there was a pause. Our new acquaintance had become involved in a vexatious difficulty with his pipe. . . . To keep the ball rolling I asked Marlow if this Powell was remarkable in any way.

   1913, Joseph Conrad, chapter 1, in Chance

   But the Gap has a long way to go before it climbs back to its high of $77. . . . Lately, it has been moving back up, closing yesterday at $26.375. On Wednesday, Donald G. Fisher, chairman and chief executive of the Gap, and Millard S. Drexler, president, will try to keep the ball rolling when they talk to New York securities analysts.

   1988 June 10, Isadore Barmash, “Market Place; Can the Gap Be On the Rebound?”, in New York Times, retrieved 16 Nov 2017

   Few people thought the Federal Aviation Administration could, as it promised, solve the delay problem at New York's LaGuardia Airport in six months. . . . Plavin, and others, hope the FAA will keep the ball rolling at the other top ten delay-plagued airports in the country.

   2001 June 14, Sally Donnelly, “A Smart FAA Plan to Reduce Airport Congestion”, in Time, retrieved 16 Nov 2017