as in base
a place from which an advance (as for military operations) is made
don't let the opposing team push us back down the field and gain a foothold
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Recent Examples of foothold
Yellow nutsedge may be the worst one that could gain a foothold.
—
Markis Hill,
Kansas City Star,
28 June 2026
Ignoring Weeds While many garden plants grow more slowly in hot weather, some weeds are undaunted by heat and use hot spells to gain a foothold in gardens.
—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
28 June 2026
And France still had a major continental foothold in Louisiana, together with its hugely profitable sugar islands in the Caribbean.
—
David Armitage,
Washington Post,
26 June 2026
By the time authorities officially declared an outbreak in May, the virus had already gained a foothold.
—
Greg Dixon,
NPR,
24 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for foothold
Markis Hill,
Kansas City Star,
28 June 2026
Ignoring Weeds While many garden plants grow more slowly in hot weather, some weeds are undaunted by heat and use hot spells to gain a foothold in gardens.
—
Lauren Landers,
Better Homes & Gardens,
28 June 2026
And France still had a major continental foothold in Louisiana, together with its hugely profitable sugar islands in the Caribbean.
—
David Armitage,
Washington Post,
26 June 2026
By the time authorities officially declared an outbreak in May, the virus had already gained a foothold.
—
Greg Dixon,
NPR,
24 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for foothold
Recent Examples of Synonyms for foothold
Noun
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All that to say, a glass of rye whiskey, one of the oldest drinks in America and the original base of many of our earliest cocktails like Manhattans and Old Fashioneds, is an easy way to honor the scrappy American spirit.
-
Constructed with a concrete base, steel framing, and ironwood siding, the home features a durable outer layer, built with fire resistance in mind.
Noun
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In 2015, he was charged in Amador County in connection with a strip poker game at a youth camp, ultimately pleading no contest two years later to providing alcohol to a minor.
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Some of them have been training together for nearly two months because Aguirre arranged a monthlong training camp ahead of the World Cup.
Noun
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Was a wedding at that hulking fortress in Midtown Manhattan gauche?
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The footage opens with fortress-like coastal imagery before moving into large-scale period sets, suggesting the film will have the epic scope of Hugo’s story while grounding it in a raw visual language.
Cite this Entry
“Foothold.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foothold. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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