Thesaurus results for FOOTHOLDS

footholds

noun

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 Russian war bloggers expect a new Moscow effort to create more footholds in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions. —

ABC News, 26 Mar. 2026 The struggle for literacy, for safety, for economic footholds — these are not sepia-toned memories. —

Jack Hill, Baltimore Sun, 26 Feb. 2026 In the later stage of the challenge, tribes were tasked with finding a way to climb a steep ramp with no footholds to reach a puzzle platform. —

Keisha Rowe, Louisville Courier Journal, 26 Feb. 2026 Dan could see no footholds ex‑ cept a crystal shaped like a domino pasted onto the rock. —

Literary Hub, 20 Jan. 2026 Apart from its soft-power flexes, China has become a leading arms supplier to the region while establishing footholds for its military, such as the Espacio Lejano Space Station, an advanced radar system China operates in the Patagonian desert under a 50-year lease from the government of Argentina. —

Simon Shuster, The Atlantic, 14 Jan. 2026 Corporate landlords and investment firms own less than 5% of the nation’s 87 million homes, according to BatchData, though that fraction is growing and obscures bigger footholds in local markets. —

Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 13 Jan. 2026 The magnitude of the action stretches from Venezuela to China, Russia and Iran, all of which seek footholds in Venezuela, threatening stability for American and democratic interests. —

John Brummett, Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2026 Create footholds for bats to roost. —

Kirsten Fiscus, Nashville Tennessean, 24 Oct. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for footholds

Noun

All six matches will be held at Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri, but two national teams will make their base camps in Kansas — Algeria at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and Argentina at the Sporting KC Training Centre in KCK.

— Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 26 Mar. 2026
Gordon and Goodwin were among the athletes named to a pair of training camps this spring in Chula Vista, California.

— ABC News, ABC News, 26 Mar. 2026