set in motion

1. Start something moving, give impetus to something, as in A press conference set the new project in motion. It is also put as set the wheels in motion, as in Let's set the wheels in motion for the new library wing. This idiom dates from about 1800. It was preceded by put in motion, which dates from the mid-1600s.

Example Sentences

The new worries about NDFIs’ links to the banking system come just as investors are about to get more data on those investments under rules that U.S. regulators set in motion in 2023.

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It's a timeless story - one that's destined to be repeated at fresher's weeks across the country this autumn - and set in motion a career-long narrative about Swift's romantic tribulations.

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And so I’m proud to set in motion our first community market.

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Season 3 sees George set in motion designs to build a railroad line connecting the East and West coasts.

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With Germany defeated, he felt a personal responsibility for reversing the course he had helped set in motion.

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Related Words

• commence 
• create 
• do 
• establish 
• found 
• go ahead 
• go into 
• inaugurate 
• initiate 
• introduce 
• launch 
• lead 
• make 
• open 
• prepare 
• produce 
• set up 
• start 
• undertake