Meaning & use
jumping off point
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Meanings
nouncountablefigurative
A place, idea or event from which a new activity, project or discussion begins.
Grammar: Often followed by for: a jumping-off point for research.
Patterns
- a jumping-off point for something
- a jumping-off point to something
The article is a good jumping-off point for the class debate.
Her first sketch became the jumping-off point for a whole collection.
The town makes a handy jumping-off point for hikes in the mountains.
nouncountable
A place that travelers use as a base before heading to a remote destination.
Grammar: Describes a location: the village is the jumping-off point for the glacier.
Patterns
- a jumping-off point for something
The port is the jumping-off point for the island ferries.
Base camp served as the jumping-off point for the climbers.
This city is the jumping-off point for safaris.
Word forms
| plural | jumping-off points |
|---|
Common combinations
- a good jumping-off point
- A good jumping-off point for the talk is last year's survey.
- a natural jumping-off point
- The earlier study is a natural jumping-off point for our work.
- serve as a jumping-off point
- The report will serve as a jumping-off point for discussion.
- use as a jumping-off point
- Use the quote as a jumping-off point for your essay.
- provide a jumping-off point
- The museum provides a jumping-off point for exploring the region.
Synonyms and how they differ
- starting point
- Starting point is neutral and general, while jumping-off point stresses the leap into something larger.
- springboard
- Springboard stresses a push toward success, more than just where you begin.
- launchpad
- Launchpad suggests a big, ambitious takeoff, often in business.
- basis
- Basis is more formal and means the foundation of an argument, not a place to start from.
Opposites
Word family
Practice
A friend suggests using last year's survey as a jumping-off point for the new study. What does she mean?
Choose one answer.
A jumping-off point is the thing you begin from. Treating it as final or skipping it contradicts that sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “jumping off point”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.