Meaning of boots on the ground | Babel Free

Definitions

1. The ground forces actually fighting in a war or conflict, rather than troops not engaged or other military action such as air strikes.
   metonymically, plural, plural-only
2. The military policy of using ground forces.
   metonymically, plural, plural-only
3. Personnel operating in an area of interest.
   broadly, plural, plural-only
4. The state or condition of being physically present at a place of interest in order to ascertain the current situation.
   figuratively, informal, plural, plural-only
5. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see boots, on, ground.
   plural, plural-only

Examples

“The Pentagon may say we have enough, but that's not what I'm hearing from the boots on the ground.”

“So often boots on the ground is the American Way.”

“At the same time, when options are considered, political parties and the media are interested in knowing whether boots on the ground is an option put on the table.”

“Eyes on the page matter, but nothing goes forward without boots on the ground. In my case, students wore the boots that mattered most. Jennifer Greer, a former student who worked for a records management consulting service, agreed to help me with the research and writing.”

“And while the number of international boots on the ground might have appeared to be large, spread across the vast and difficult territory of Darfur, those 20,000 troops and police looked much less adequate.”

“We need boots on the ground to make the border a real barrier. Ten thousand new Border Patrol agents have been authorized by Congress.”

“Michael Bordenaro (27 March 2024), “FAST FOOD LAYOFFS ARE HERE! THOUSANDS LOSING THEIR JOB...”, in Youtube,com, Youtube.com, retrieved 27 Mar 2024: “I'm gonna be in California this summer. And I'll definitely be doing some boots on the ground research on [raise in minimum wage] while I'm there.””

“He did not make much of an entrance, he just made his way over to the edge of the lake and plopped his boots on the ground.”

“US options grow more difficults^([sic]) as the chance of a Soviet response increases. However, many American strategists now argue that even light, token US land forces -- "getting US combat boots on the ground," as General Warner puts it -- would signal to an enemy that the US is physically guarding the area and can only be dislodged at the risk of war.”

CEFR level