Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A small indentation or ledge on which the toe of a shoe can find support in climbing.
- noun A slight or initial yet significant advantage useful for future progress.
- noun Sports A wrestling hold in which one competitor wrenches the other's foot.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun rock climbing A
foothold small enough to support just thetoe . - noun by extension Any small
advantage which allows one to makesignificant progress .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a small foothold used in climbing
- noun a wrestling hold in which the toe is held and the leg is twisted against the joints
- noun a relatively insignificant position from which future progress might be made
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word toehold.
Examples
-
Republicans a long-term toehold in a region that has trended away from them for the last decade.
Hotline On Call 2010
-
"Our toehold, which is robust and impressive, is slipping," Romer said.
Jacksonville Business News - Local Jacksonville News | Jacksonville Business Journal 2010
-
"Our toehold, which is robust and impressive, is slipping," Romer said.
Boston Business News - Local Boston News | Boston Business Journal 2010
-
"Our toehold, which is robust and impressive, is slipping," Romer said.
Dallas Business News - Local Dallas News | Dallas Business Journal 2010
-
One area where exclusive distribution deals have already gained more than a toehold is the music industry.
New Rules Project - Designing Rules As If Community Matters 2008
-
Nick pulls himself out of it and deftly maneuvers into a toehold, which is a counter I've never seen done.
Scott's Blog of Doom 2008
-
What kind of toehold do the Taliban have, not just in these tribal regions, but fundamentally across the country?
-
Establish that kind of toehold, you'll likely be able to say more and more as time goes on.
Marc Hershon: Nine Ways to Get Noticed (Without Compromising Yourself) 2009
-
The notion that, if the U.S. hadn't given the Tunisian government hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid over the past two and a half decades, while helping train its military and security forces, a shadowy fringe group calling itself "al-Qaeda in the Maghreb" might have established a "toehold" in the country was daft.
-
We are perfectly able to imagine courses on Buddhist philosophy or rabbinic Judaism - both of which involve what we would call "theological" argument and commentary on authoritative texts - without worrying that this would represent some kind of toehold for religious indoctrination.
Inside Higher Ed 2010
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.