footholds

plural of foothold
as in bases
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of footholds Some went to cities that have long been magnets for immigrants — New York, Miami — but increasingly, others found their way to smaller cities with less developed immigrant footholds. — Will Jarrett, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026 The eldest among them had established early footholds in their careers before COVID hit. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 3 July 2026 As millions of Venezuelan refugees moved through Latin America, Tren de Aragua established criminal footholds along migration corridors, extending its reach into Colombia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador and eventually the United States. — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 1 July 2026 The latest report, from the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, also traced how Russia and Rwanda have established economic and security footholds in CAR alongside UAE trading networks. — Yinka Adegoke, semafor.com, 12 June 2026 Meanwhile, some of America’s largest AI companies have also established footholds on campus. — Jared Perlo, NBC news, 28 May 2026 The local voting also provides an opening for smaller parties, independents and outsider candidates to gain political footholds that would be far harder to achieve in national parliamentary races. — Inaya Folarin Iman, CBS News, 8 May 2026 The second generation, which began in the early 2000s, saw K-pop gain footholds in regional markets like China, Japan and Southeast Asia. — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 2 May 2026 The fact is that recent or older series can gain new footholds with modern viewers who haven’t seen them. — Brian Steinberg, Variety, 30 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for footholds
Noun
  • And lunar traffic is poised to increase greatly in the coming years, as both the United States and China aim to build bases near the moon's south pole.
    — Leonard David, Space.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Opponents to the Henoko plan argue that building another airfield on Okinawa would only perpetuate the island’s disproportionate share of bases.
    — Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 7 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Even local landmarks can have a part in shameful history, with de Courcy noting that Memorial Auditorium was a staging area for the shipment of Japanese American residents to internment camps for during World War II.
    — Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Hayes has regularly scheduled the senior and U-23 camps to run concurrently in hopes of extending the growing fluidity between their rosters.
    — Melanie Anzidei, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • The structures include monasteries and fortresses that showcase the reign of the Lombards, who played a major role in the development of medieval European Christianity.
    — Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The horse was found amid structures and artifacts that have revealed more details of military and daily life inside ancient Egyptian fortresses, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a Wednesday statement.
    — Ahmed Shawkat, CBS News, 16 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • Ukraine has sought to derail the Kremlin’s plans by launching counterattacks in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, where Russian forces have sought to carve out bridgeheads with an aim to advance toward the regional capitals, which are key industrial hubs.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Additional demonstrations were scheduled for 2026, alongside work on hydrogen stations to supply fuel.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 4 Oct. 2026
  • The letter called for greater regional collaboration to keep New England’s remaining nuclear stations operational and to identify potential locations for expansion.
    — John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 4 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • In Congo, where the outbreak has spread to seven provinces, responders have faced attacks on health teams, misinformation about the virus, a failure by locals to report symptoms and rebel violence that has limited access to treatment centers.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Much of the discussion surrounding this week’s game centers around how the Georgia defense will go about defending Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell.
    — Connor Riley, AJC.com, 6 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Footholds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/footholds. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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