Noun

(en noun)

A ground for the foot; place for the foot to rest on; firm foundation to stand on.

* Holder

In ascent, every step gained is a footing and help to the next.

A standing; position; established place; basis for operation; permanent settlement; foothold.

* (1800-1859)

As soon as he had obtained a footing at court, the charms of his mannermade him a favorite.

A relative condition; state.

* (1800-1859)

Lived on a footing of equality with nobles.

A tread; step; especially, measured tread.

* (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)

Hark, I hear the footing of a man.

A footprint or footprints; tracks, someone's trail.

* 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , III.vii:

The Monster swift as word, that from her went, / Went forth in hast, and did her footing trace.

*, I.38:

A man must doe as some wilde beasts, which at the entrance of their caves, will have no manner of footing seene.

stability or balance when standing on one's feet

* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 29, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport

, title= Chelsea 3-5 Arsenal , passage=Terry lost his footing to allow Van Persie to race clear for Arsenal's fourth after 85 minutes before the Netherlands striker completed a second treble against Chelsea by hammering his third past Petr Cech deep into stoppage time.}}

The act of adding up a column of figures; the amount or sum total of such a column.

* Francis A. Corliss, Supreme Court, County of New York (p.111)

The auditing of the accounts, when the defendant was present, was nothing more than the examinings of the footings of the bookkeeper.

The act of putting a foot to anything; also, that which is added as a foot; as, the footing of a stocking.

A narrow cotton lace, without figures.

The finer refuse part of whale blubber, not wholly deprived of oil. Simmonds.

(architecture, engineering) The thickened or sloping portion of a wall, or of an embankment at its foot; foundation.

(accounting) Double checking the numbers vertically.

Noun

(en noun)

(rock climbing) A foothold small enough to support just the toe.

(by extension) Any small advantage which allows one to make significant progress.

*1990 , (Peter Hopkirk), The Great Game , Folio Society 2010, p. 151:

*:Were Herat to fall to the Persians, this would give the Russians a crucial and dangerous toe-hold in western Afghanistan.

*2009 , Alan Travis, The Guardian , 8 Dec 2009:

*:One in three "adult-kids" who have not left the parental nest say they are still living at home because they cannot afford to get a toehold on the property ladder by buying or renting.