pathfinder state
n.— «One interesting neologism appears in the foreign policy arena: “pathfinder state.” Essentially a new phrase meaning “regional ally,” a pathfinder state is neither a great power nor an emerging great power such as India, but rather a nation whose interest in a progressive international agenda overlaps with Canada’s.» —“Long On Style, Short On Specifics” by Peter Schneider Embassy (Can.) Apr. 20, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
What if, instead of being an inanimate object, a dictionary were alive? That’s the idea behind a lavishly illustrated new children’s book called The Dictionary Story (Bookshop|Amazon) by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. This is part of a...
Jim in Columbia, South Carolina, has noticed sportscasters’ use of the phrase on the season with reference to a period of time. This construction shows up in the sports pages as early as the 1880s, first referring to a team’s revenue and...