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
Relevance
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
Additional footholds in Aspen and Hawaii follow a familiar pattern of buying adjacent homes within the same enclave.
—
Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 20 Apr. 2026
Sleeping upside down Once Orion reached Earth orbit after launch, two of the crew seats, as well as the footholds of the other two seats, were stowed away and will remain that way until reentry at the mission’s end.
—Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 7 Apr. 2026
While the commitments to long-term space are notable, the decisions are a mix of maintaining footholds and new growth.
—Krysta Escobar, CNBC, 5 Apr. 2026
That can mean gaining multiple footholds, altering authentication settings or gaining access via third parties.
—William Akoto, The Conversation, 2 Apr. 2026
In between all that, the host also managed to explain that everyone would be broken up into three groups, with each group going to Tribal Council, and the person who could last longest on narrow footholds for each group would win individual immunity.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Apr. 2026
Flags, footprints and footholds There was no single Apollo mission that matched what Artemis 2 is going to do, but that's not the only difference between the moon missions of 50 years ago and today.
—Robert Z. Pearlman, Space.com, 30 Mar. 2026
Russian war bloggers expect a new Moscow effort to create more footholds in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
—ABC News, 26 Mar. 2026
From these footholds, Indonesian special forces organized and launched offensives against Fretilin to force its retreat.
—Agathe Demarolle, Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Mar. 2026
Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 20 Apr. 2026
Sleeping upside down Once Orion reached Earth orbit after launch, two of the crew seats, as well as the footholds of the other two seats, were stowed away and will remain that way until reentry at the mission’s end.
—Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 7 Apr. 2026
While the commitments to long-term space are notable, the decisions are a mix of maintaining footholds and new growth.
—Krysta Escobar, CNBC, 5 Apr. 2026
That can mean gaining multiple footholds, altering authentication settings or gaining access via third parties.
—William Akoto, The Conversation, 2 Apr. 2026
In between all that, the host also managed to explain that everyone would be broken up into three groups, with each group going to Tribal Council, and the person who could last longest on narrow footholds for each group would win individual immunity.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Apr. 2026
Flags, footprints and footholds There was no single Apollo mission that matched what Artemis 2 is going to do, but that's not the only difference between the moon missions of 50 years ago and today.
—Robert Z. Pearlman, Space.com, 30 Mar. 2026
Russian war bloggers expect a new Moscow effort to create more footholds in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
—ABC News, 26 Mar. 2026
From these footholds, Indonesian special forces organized and launched offensives against Fretilin to force its retreat.
—Agathe Demarolle, Encyclopedia Britannica, 6 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for footholds
Noun
-
The Russian departure from much of northern Mali will enable jihadist groups to set up training camps in the vast spaces vacated, paving the way for further expansion, a scenario especially feared by Algeria.—
Ulf Laessing,
semafor.com,
30 Apr. 2026
-
The Carter County Museum hosts dinosaur camps for kids, while the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum offers five-day adult dig expeditions and a junior paleontologist program, a one-day dig experience for children ages 5-11.—
Alex Temblador,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Surface tanks are targets; subsurface reservoirs are fortresses.—
Siddharth Misra,
Fortune,
6 Mar. 2026
-
France believed its Maginot Line of fortresses was impregnable – until the Germans simply went around it.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
19 Feb. 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
-
This month, Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is allowing stations to sell E15 gasoline for 90 days starting May 1.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
25 Apr. 2026
-
The one-hour show features both musicians and writers and is aired by Mississippi Public Broadcasting across a number of stations even outside of the state.—
Kat Chen,
Condé Nast Traveler,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Arguably the two top centers in Iowa’s Logan Jones and Florida’s Jake Slaughter went off the board within the final eight picks of the second round.—
Jeff Zrebiec,
New York Times,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Hyundai will supply its HiMSEN engines Data centers are the backbone of modern digital services, from cloud computing to artificial intelligence applications.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Footholds.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/footholds. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
