lily-pad
n.— «At Nordson, Mr. Madar has been using what he terms a “lily pad to lily pad” growth strategy, jumping from one new market to another nearby one “rather than leap across the pond or into an entirely different pond.”» —“Nordson Is Poised to Compete in the ’90s” by Ralph E. Winter in Westlake, Ohio Wall Street Journal Nov. 29, 1988. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Some college students are using the word loyalty as a synonym for monogamy. Are the meanings of these words now shifting? Plus, a biologist discovers a new species of bat, then names it after a poet he admires. Also, warm memories of how a childhood...
The words tough, through, and dough all end in O-U-G-H. So why don’t they rhyme? A lively new book addresses the many quirks of English by explaining the history of words and phrases. And: have you ever been in a situation where a group makes...