hit the ground running

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

Start something and proceed at a fast pace with enthusiasm.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

bắt đầu và tiến hành với tốc độ nhanh và nhiệt tình

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

In short, after promising to hit the ground running, people wonder why the President has become the leader of the Slow Is Beautiful Movement.
Musical flair alone hasn't been the reason why the jazz poets / warriors have hit the ground running, it always helps to be seen as part of a fashionable movement.

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).

Common questions

What does “hit the ground running” mean?

Start something and proceed at a fast pace with enthusiasm.

Is “hit the ground running” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.