foothold

[ UK /fˈʊthə‍ʊld/ ]
[ US /ˈfʊtˌhoʊɫd/ ]

NOUN

an initial accomplishment that opens the way for further developments
the town became a beachhead in the campaign to ban smoking outdoors
they are presently attempting to gain a foothold in the Russian market
a place providing support for the foot in standing or climbing
an area in hostile territory that has been captured and is held awaiting further troops and supplies
the only foothold left for British troops in Europe was Gibraltar
an attempt to secure a bridgehead behind enemy lines

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How To Use foothold In A Sentence

A couple of times her footholds cracked and she plunged a few heart-stopping feet, but luckily she grabbed another hold.
In the days following the D-Day landings, Allied troops carved a tenuous foothold on the coast of Normandy.
Whatever the cause, I felt dizzy, and without any bearings or footholds.
We are heartened to see the counter-errorist troops in the SGPS fighting to gain a thought foothold among graduate students. Stephen Taylor - a blog on Canadian politics
Without warning my foothold broke and I slid downward ripping a gash in the plastic that held the containers of water together.
Although AT&T is touting its lead in postpaid smartphone subscribers, the carrier is just now taking steps to gain a better foothold in the prepaid market, an area where rivals have a head start. AT&T Reshapes Itself As a Smartphone Carrier
With few marketable skills or capital upon their arrival, Irish men secured only a tenuous foothold in the province's secondary labour market, working as labourers, harvesters, ploughmen and general farm hands.
It is rather dim under the trees on an overcast, damp day, and hard to keep your foothold on the slippery bank. THE EARTH: An Intimate History
To help young jockeys get a foothold in the sport, those under 26 can claim a weight allowance in certain races (they are known as apprentice jockeys).
Something has crossed our lives so that we are about to lose foothold in the public world of common sense.