go a long way toward

Idioms  

1. Have considerable effect or influence on. For example, This argument goes a long way toward proving the scientists are wrong, or, as Eudora Welty put it in The Ponder Heart (1954): “It went a long way toward making him touchy about what Uncle Daniel had gone and done.” This idiom, then put as go a great way toward, was first recorded in 1697.

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Example Sentences

The company’s fiscal-first-quarter report, due Thursday afternoon, could go a long way toward shaping the shares’ trajectory in 2026.

From Barron's • Dec. 11, 2025

Prevention strategies that take neurodiversity into account could go a long way toward reducing the number of young lives lost too soon.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 2025

If that claim holds up, it would go a long way toward helping Musk win over safety regulators and earn his pay.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 8, 2025

Newly released results from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey go a long way toward answering those questions.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

"My lords, it seems to me that if the rest of her kin were to remain loyal in this terrible time, that would go a long way toward laying our fears to rest."

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin