get/set/start the ball rolling

phrase

informal

: to begin an activity or process

At the meeting, she tried to get the ball rolling by asking a few questions.

Examples of get/set/start the ball rolling in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Off-site meetings are designed to get the ball rolling and bring teams together face-to-face. — Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 5 Mar. 2026

The additional $1 a share increase was sufficient to get the ball rolling in conjunction with attention to other concerns Warner had raised. — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 24 Feb. 2026

At a special board meeting one week before, a frustrated board voted to make a number of drastic moves to get the ball rolling on a fiscal solvency plan that had not yet been meaningfully implemented. — Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 7 Feb. 2026

But things began heating up this weekend, and the Chicago Bulls, of all teams, helped get the ball rolling. — Joel Lorenzi, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2026