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Shovel ready

Shovel ready

Meaning

A building project in which all the preliminaries have been arranged.

Examples

Planning consent is done. The site is cleared. The project is shovel ready.

Where did it originate?

USA, late 20th century.

Where is it used?

Mostly USA and Britain.

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About the Author

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

Gary Martin

Writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.
Shovel ready

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