prepare the ground for (something)

to make conditions ready for something to happen in the future.

These experiments prepared the ground for the development of sound-recording technology.

Usage notes: often used in a political context:

Even if she is preparing the ground to run for governor, the senator will probably stay in the Senate.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of prepare the ground (= to make land ready for planting crops)

• go to pieces
• go to pot
• go to rack and ruin
• go to see a man about a dog
• go to seed
• go to show
• go to show something
• go to sleep
• go to someone's head
• go to the bathroom
• go to the country
• Go to the devil!
• go to the devil
• go to the dogs
• go to the ends of the earth
• go to the mat
• go to the mat for
• go to the mat for someone
• go to the mat for something
• go to the polls
• go to the stake
• go to the trouble
• go to the trouble of
• go to the trouble of doing something
• go to the wall