lay a/the foundation(s)

1. Literally, to construct the supportive structure that will undergird a building. In this usage, only the singular "foundation" is used. After all the delays we've had, please tell me the contractors are laying the foundation today.

2. To state, outline, or create the fundamental basis (for something). Opposing counsel is going to lay the foundation of their case today and then build on it as the trial goes on. Our first project already laid a foundation for us. Now we can take that content and repurpose it for our new idea. Rosalind Franklin's vital work in X-ray crystallography laid the foundations for Watson and Crick's discovery of the DNA double helix.

lay a/the foundation(s) for (something)

2. To state, outline, or create the fundamental basis for something. Opposing counsel is going to lay the foundation for their case today and then build on it as the trial goes on. Rosalind Franklin's vital work in X-ray crystallography laid the foundations for Watson and Crick's discovery of the DNA double helix.

lay the foundation(s) of (something)

2. To state, outline, or create the fundamental basis for something. Opposing counsel is going to lay the foundation of their case today and then build on it as the trial goes on. Rosalind Franklin's vital work in X-ray crystallography laid the foundations of Watson and Crick's discovery of the DNA double helix.

rock (something) to its foundations

To impact something in a way that affects its very essence, especially concerning its values or beliefs. The election of the outsider candidate rocked the party to its foundations, and led to a lot of soul-searching among its members.

rock the foundations of (something)

To impact something in a way that affects its very essence, especially concerning its values or beliefs. The death of her son rocked the foundations of her beliefs. The election of the outsider candidate rocked the foundations of the party, and led to a lot of soul-searching among its members.

shake (something) to its foundations

To impact something in a way that affects its very essence, especially concerning its values or beliefs. The election of the outsider candidate shook the party to its foundations, and led to a lot of soul-searching among its members.

shake (something) to the foundations

To impact something in a way that affects its very essence, especially concerning its values or beliefs. The election of the outsider candidate shook the party to the foundations, and led to a lot of soul-searching among its members.

shake the foundations of (something)

To impact something in a way that affects its very essence, especially concerning its values or beliefs. The death of her son shook the foundations of her beliefs. The election of the outsider candidate shook the foundations of the party, and led to a lot of soul-searching among its members.

shake something to the foundations

shake something to its foundations

If someone or something shakes something to the foundations or shakes it to its foundations, they damage it, change it or shock it very much. Her faith, which had been so strong, was shaken to the foundations. When an American president is forced to resign, the country is shaken to its foundations. Note: The verb rock is sometimes used instead of shake. The music industry was rocked to its foundations last night when it was revealed that the Midlands' top live music venue was to close.

See also: foundation, shake, something, to

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

shake/rock the ˈfoundations of something

shake/rock something to its ˈfoundations

cause people to question their basic beliefs about something: This issue has shaken the very foundations of French politics.

See also: foundation, of, rock, shake, something

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

See also:

References in periodicals archive

"These foundations provide very important philanthropic support to their respective faith-based community missions," Walter Dillingham, managing director, endowments and foundations, at Wilmington Trust, wrote in the 20-page report.

Foundation building: Catholic dioceses turning to stand-alone operations

Today, there are a large number of foundation types and most of these foundation types are determined based off a region's climate and construction method.

Julian Construction: 5 Most Common Types of Home Foundations

The award was presented in April to the Charitable Foundation at the Council on Foundations' Annual Conference in Dallas, Texas.

Partnership praise: NH Charitable Foundation wins HUD Secretary's Award

THE former headquarters of the Northern Rock Foundation in Newcastle is the new base of a Tyneside charity and has been renamed Philanthropy House.

Rock headquarters new base FORTYNESIDE charity

Walama Restoration Project received a grant for $7,500 from the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation to help provide hands-on and in-class environmental education for students in Lane County for the 2014-15 school year.

BUSINESS GIVING

Legacy: Donors often name their foundations after themselves or their families.

Creating a private foundation to meet charitable goals

This is according to Key Facts on Corporate Foundations, a summary report by the Foundation Center.

Corporate foundations make record contributions

Domestic Private Foundations Reporting Excise Tax on Investment Income,

Private foundations, tax year 2003--fall 2006 issue

The attention from Congress had little effect on the activities of these foundations. The Ford Foundation, until recently the largest of the tax-exempt foundations, for its part got serious about forming and funding Chicano pressure groups in the late 1960s.

Sponsoring the revolution: illegal immigrants are pawns in a game aimed at fomenting revolution and funded by the nation's major tax-exempt foundations

Gimbel Foundation, Citibank N.A., City of New York and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Commerce Bank, Corporation for Supportive Housing, Deutsche Bank, Fannie Mae, F.B.

City's new Acquisition Loan Fund officially open for business

With as much as they have, the foundations affiliated with the Waltons are able to outgive any other Arkansas nonprofit by more than $100 million.

Largest nonprofits' combined revenue surpasses $1 billion