From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishset/start/keep the ball rollingset/start/keep the ball rollingSTART DOING somethingto start something happening To start the ball rolling, the government was asked to contribute £1 million. → ball
Examples from the Corpus
set/start/keep the ball rolling• And laughter is infectious ... so a little bit of effort on the small screen could start the ball rolling.• Volume 2 deals with general idioms e.g. keep the ball rolling, the proof of the pudding.• Does that make a difference, or did he and others just start the ball rolling?• Ali MacGraw set the ball rolling with Love Story.• Wolves play a similar style, and at times one yearned for some one to set the ball rolling ... literally.• To start the ball rolling, the government was asked to contribute £1 million.• He will keep the ball rolling.• Her words started the ball rolling. 