roundup

Fig. from the very beginning. We must plan our sales campaign carefully from the ground up. Sorry, but you'll have to start all over again from the ground up.

to aim for or move toward someone or something. She waved good-bye as she headed for the door. Ann came in and headed for her mother.

Euph. to reach the end of usefulness or of life. (Originally said of a dying cowboy.) This ballpoint pen is headed for the last roundup. I have to get another one. I am so weak. I think I'm headed for the last roundup.

starting with nothing The company was built from the ground up by two very creative people.

From the very beginning; also, completely, thoroughly. For example, We've had to learn a new system from the ground up, or The company changed all of the forms from the ground up. This expression alludes to the construction of a house, which begins with the foundation.

Proceed or go in a certain direction, as in I'm heading for town, or I believe Karen and Jane are heading for a big quarrel. This expression, which uses head in the sense of "advance toward," is occasionally amplified with a figurative destination, especially in the American West. For example, head for the hills means "to run away to high and safer ground" or "to flee from danger." It is often used facetiously, as in Here comes that old bore-head for the hills!Head for the setting sun alludes to where a wanted man or outlaw went when a law-enforcement agent was close behind him, that is, farther west, and head for the last roundup means "to die." [Early 1800s]

From the most basic level to the highest level; completely: designed the house from the ground up; learned the family business from the ground up.