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lay a foundation

verb

Etymology

Figurative senses from the idea of laying a foundation as the first step in constructing a building.

Definitions

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically

    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see lay, foundation.

  2. To elicit information from a witness to show that the witness has knowledge of a matter…

    To elicit information from a witness to show that the witness has knowledge of a matter before the witness testifies to the matter itself.

    • In order to lay a foundation for the witness to describe the murder, the prosecutor first had to show that the witness was present when the murder occurred.

  3. To make a start.

    • You should lay a foundation, even if you can't finish the project.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for lay a foundation. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA