lily pad
n.— «We are already “reconfiguring our footprint”—that is, reviewing deployment of our troops globally to make us capable of applying mobile force anywhere rather than to sit in place to meet any specific threat. That’s part of the “lily pad concept,” on the analogy of frogs hopping around a number of forward bases.…Saudi threats to restrict our use of bases there caused us to build a Qatar lily pad. Would Germany also prove unreliable as a jumping-off point in a crisis?» —“Germany no longer necessary” by William Safire in Washington, D.C. Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) Sept. 19, 2002. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What kind of book do people ask for most often in prison? Romance novels? No. The Bible? No. The most requested books by far are … dictionaries! A number of volunteer organizations gather and distribute used dictionaries to help inmates with...
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...