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virgin soil

British  

noun

  1. soil that has not been cultivated before

  2. a person or thing that is as yet undeveloped

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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Cars 3 likewise begins with a promise to be nothing like its predecessor, but in this case, it’s a retreat to familiar territory rather than a step onto virgin soil.

From Slate • Jun. 13, 2017

“This is not completely virgin soil but it’s a newer set of vines that the winemakers are a little bit less used to,” said Simon Atkinson, a director at polling firm Ipsos MORI.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 31, 2016

“The last of the Great Southwest is fast being developed, turning the cowman back to the west and breaking out the virgin soil for vast wheat farms,” The News reported.

From Washington Times • Jan. 2, 2015

It was not the lavish virgin soil of popular fancy.

From Time Magazine Archive

Colonial writers knew that disease tilled the virgin soil of the Americas countless times in the sixteenth century.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

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