do the spadework

Idioms  

1. Make the preliminary preparations or do the preliminary research for something. For example, The department head did all the spadework for this agreement. This expression transfers the heavy spading required to prepare for planting to other kinds of preparation. [c. 1900]

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Example Sentences

Yet when sensational crimes and celebrity scandals grab the nation's attention, these are the shows that do the spadework, uncover the dirt, get the scoops.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Chicago Sun-Times will have regular staffers do the spadework, but is also sending Novelist Irving Wallace with a mandate that is typical for such high-priced talent.

From Time Magazine Archive

I'm not going to do the spadework and let her reap the harvest.

From The Girls of St. Cyprian's A Tale of School Life by Brazil, Angela