lily pad
n.— «Among the places the military already has placed or hopes to base such new “lily pads” or jumping off points: the eastern European nations of Bulgaria and Romania; a pier in Singapore; and a tiny island off the oil-rich coast of West Africa.» —“U.S. expands military outposts worldwide” in Washington, D.C. MSNBC Sept. 22, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Twice a day the River Thames recedes, revealing a muddy shoreline. Hobbyists known as mudlarks stroll the surface searching for objects that have found their way into the river over the centuries, everything from ancient Roman jewelry to modern...
Many of us struggled with the Old English poem “Beowulf” in high school. But what if you could actually hear “Beowulf” in the English of today? There’s a new translation by Maria Dahvana Headley that uses contemporary...