beachhead

noun

beach·​head ˈbēch-ˌhed 

1

: an area on a hostile shore occupied to secure further landing of troops and supplies

2

: foothold

Examples of beachhead in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As a result, instead of building a better life for their constituents, the Axis members made their countries into Iranian beachheads in a shadow conflict with the United States and Israel. —Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 17 Dec. 2024

Full circle: Kvamme's father Floyd — who helped form National Semiconductor's beachhead in Silicon Valley before later becoming a venture capitalist — got a Thanksgiving Day chuckle out of his VC son's semiconductor pursuit. —Dan Primack, Axios, 3 Dec. 2024

The war took on an overtly sectarian cast in 2015, when a coalition of states led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE intervened to prevent a Houthi victory and the establishment of an Iranian beachhead on the Arabian Peninsula. —Vali Nasr, Foreign Affairs, 2 Dec. 2021

Twelve years later Uber arrived, and San Francisco was the first beachhead for its mass invasion of thousands of new drivers. —Wired Staff, WIRED, 20 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1920, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

beachhead

noun

beach·​head ˈbēch-ˌhed 

: an area on an enemy shore held by an advance force of an invading army to protect the later landing of troops or supplies