different between airhead vs foothold

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???h?d/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /????(h)?d/
• Hyphenation: air?head

Etymology 1

From air +? head (“foremost, topmost, or leading part”), sense 1 (“area of hostile territory seized for use as an airbase”) by analogy with beachhead and bridgehead.

Noun

airhead (plural airheads)

1. (military) An area of hostile territory that has been seized for use as an airbase to ensure the further safe landing of troops and materiel.
2. (by extension) A (usually temporary) landing area for aircraft for supplying a non-military operation.
3. (mining, archaic) Alternative form of air-head (“a horizontal channel providing ventilation in a mine.”)

Coordinate terms

• (military): beachhead, bridgehead, railhead

Translations

Etymology 2

From air +? head, in the sense of having one’s head filled with air instead of a brain; compare empty-headed.

Noun

airhead (plural airheads)

1. (originally US, informal, derogatory) A foolish, silly, or unintelligent person.

   Synonyms: airling, bimbo, bubblehead; see also Thesaurus:idiot

Hyponyms

• dumb blonde

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• airhead on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• airhead (subculture) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• airhead (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Etymology

foot +? hold

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?f?tho?ld/

Noun

foothold (plural footholds)

1. (climbing) A solid grip with the feet.
2. (by extension) A secure position from which it is difficult to be dislodged.
3. (military) Airhead, beachhead, bridgehead, lodgement.

Translations