steppingstone

See also: stepping-stone and stepping stone

English

Noun

steppingstone (plural steppingstones)

1. Alternative form of stepping stone
   • 2001 August 21, Jennifer 8. Lee, “Postdoc Trail: Long and Filled With Pitfalls”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     When Dr. Michael Dugan took his first postdoctoral research appointment in 1985, he considered it a steppingstone to a permanent theoretical physics post on a college faculty.

   • 2014 June 9, Kenneth Chang, “Seeing Obstacle-Filled Path to Mars”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     Dr. Lunine said that with steppingstones, people would look back positively at what had already been accomplished and be more likely to continue supporting a Mars program.

   • 2021 January 27, Elizabeth Williamson, “Rioters Followed a Long Conspiratorial Road to the Capitol”, in The New York Times‎^[3]:

     For many of the Capitol rioters and others who believe Mr. Trump won, it was not a large leap to “Stop the Steal” from a pathway of conspiratorial steppingstones that included the “Pizzagate” claim of 2016 that Democrats were running a child sex ring in the back of a popular Washington pizza parlor, the debunked allegation that a low-level Democratic National Committee aide was murdered for leaking Hillary Clinton’s emails and many more.