hit the ground running

• Audio (General Australian):

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hit the ground running (third-person singular simple present hits the ground running, present participle hitting the ground running, simple past and past participle hit the ground running)

1. (idiomatic) To begin an activity immediately and with full commitment.

   Employers these days look for candidates that can hit the ground running, so that they spend less on training.

   • 1999 June 8, Smash Mouth, “All Star”, in Astro Longue:

     Well, the years start coming and they don’t stop coming.
     Fed to the rules and I hit the ground runnin’.

• storm out of the blocks