footholds
Steps for ascent
A foothold is a place where you can securely place your foot while climbing, such as a ledge or crack in a rock face.
By extension, foothold refers to any secure position from which further progress can be made: The company gained a foothold in the Asian market.
Military forces establish footholds in enemy territory as a base for advancing.
The word nearly always appears in contexts of advancement or progress, whether literal climbing or figurative expansion.
Location or stance
- strongholdFortified place of defense
- beachheadSecured landing zone
- territoryLand under jurisdiction
- outpostRemote military station
bridgehead · encampment · front · line · occupation · advance · invasion · garrison
Access or submission
- startTo set going
- beginningInitial stage of something
- openingGap or start
- opportunityFavorable circumstance for advancement
base · foundation · establishment · breakthrough · advancement · inroads · launching · springboard
position
Location or stance
- strongholdFortified place of defense
- beachheadSecured landing zone
- territoryLand under jurisdiction
outpost · bridgehead · encampment · front · line · occupation · advance · invasion · garrison · entrenchment
entry
Access or submission
opportunity · base · foundation · establishment · breakthrough · advancement · inroads · launching · springboard · stepping-stone
grip
Secure manual hold
handhold · purchase · crack · rock · face · route · ascent · belay · anchor · pitch
- playgroundswings, slide, monkey bars, seesaw, slides
- climbingrock climbing, free climbing, belay, bouldering, carabiner
- climbing gymclimbing wall, bouldering wall, handholds, crash pad, crash pads
- rocky terraincliffs, boulders, scree, outcrops, rockfall
footholdssetbacks
Reversals of progress
displacement · expulsion · retreat · dislodgement · exclusion