ground rules

Idioms  

1. Basic procedures of conduct, as in The press secretary sets the ground rules for all of the President's press conferences. The term comes from baseball, where it refers to specific rules for a particular ballpark, which are based on special conditions such as a very high outfield fence or a field obstruction of some kind. It began to be transferred to more general use in the mid-1900s.

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Example Sentences

"I think it gets some basic ground rules in place but of course, it does depend on the attitude of the tech platforms adopting the practical guidance put forward," she said.

From BBC

Before you begin, you need to set ground rules, like no crosstalk or fingerpointing or bad language or namecalling etc.

From MarketWatch

“All the ground rules for 50 years are either being overturned or are at risk of being overturned.”

From Los Angeles Times

My mother did not live long enough to see all this happen, but even though I broke a few ground rules, I think she would be pleased with how it all worked out.

From Los Angeles Times

"And so we are doing everything that we possibly can to keep fighting. And I think we will be successful; we just need to know what the ground rules are."

From BBC