an initial accomplishment that opens the way for further developments; "the town became a beachhead in the campaign to ban smoking outdoors"; "they are presently attempting to gain a foothold in the Russian market"
a bridgehead on the enemy's shoreline seized by an amphibious operation; "the Germans were desperately trying to contain the Anzio beachhead"
a defensive post at the end of a bridge nearest to the enemy
an area in hostile territory that has been captured and is held awaiting further troops and supplies; "an attempt to secure a bridgehead behind enemy lines"; "the only foothold left for British troops in Europe was Gibraltar"
to the greatest degree or extent or most advanced stage (`furthest' is used more often than `farthest' in this abstract sense); "went the furthest of all the children in her education"; "furthest removed from reality"; "she goes farthest in helping us"
to the greatest distance in space or time (`farthest' is used more often than `furthest' in this physical sense); "see who could jump the farthest"; "chose the farthest seat from the door"; "he swam the furthest"
the position of greatest importance or advancement; the leading position in any movement or field; "the Cotswolds were once at the forefront of woollen manufacturing in England"; "the idea of motion was always to the forefront of his mind and central to his philosophy"
the finest or most superior quality of its kind; "the ultimate in luxury"
being the last or concluding element of a series; "the ultimate sonata of that opus"; "a distinction between the verb and noun senses of `conflict' is that in the verb the stress is on the ultimate (or last) syllable"
furthest or highest in degree or order; utmost or extreme; "the ultimate achievement"; "the ultimate question"; "man's ultimate destiny"; "the ultimate insult"; "one's ultimate goal in life"
strictly limiting the reference of a modified word or phrase; "the restrictive clause in `Each made a list of the books that had influenced him' limits the books on the list to only those particular ones defined by the clause"