keep the ball rolling

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keep the ball rolling (third-person singular simple present keeps the ball rolling, present participle keeping the ball rolling, simple past and past participle kept the ball rolling)

1. (idiomatic) To continue an action indicated in the context; to sustain a process.
   • 1913, Joseph Conrad, Chance, ch. 1:

     Then there was a pause. Our new acquaintance had become involved in a vexatious difficulty with his pipe. . . . To keep the ball rolling I asked Marlow if this Powell was remarkable in any way.

   • 1988 June 10, Isadore Barmash, "Market Place; Can the Gap Be On the Rebound?," New York Times (retrieved 16 Nov 2017):

     But the Gap has a long way to go before it climbs back to its high of $77. . . . Lately, it has been moving back up, closing yesterday at $26.375. On Wednesday, Donald G. Fisher, chairman and chief executive of the Gap, and Millard S. Drexler, president, will try to keep the ball rolling when they talk to New York securities analysts.

   • 2001 June 14, Sally Donnelly, "A Smart FAA Plan to Reduce Airport Congestion," Time (retrieved 16 Nov 2017):

     Few people thought the Federal Aviation Administration could, as it promised, solve the delay problem at New York's LaGuardia Airport in six months. . . . Plavin, and others, hope the FAA will keep the ball rolling at the other top ten delay-plagued airports in the country.

• get the ball rolling