a beginning from which an enterprise is launched; "he uses other people's ideas as a springboard for his own"; "reality provides the jumping-off point for his illusions"; "the point of departure of international comparison cannot be an institution but must be the function it carries out"
with unflagging resolve; "dance inspires him ceaselessly to strive higher and higher toward the shining pinnacle of perfection that is the goal of every artiste"
(spatial sense) seeming to have no bounds; "the Nubian desert seemed to stretch out before them endlessly"