beachhead
6
9.3
- noun
- /ˈbiːtʃˌhɛd/
- Specialized
:
cabeza de playa
- Intense enemy fire exacted a heavy toll as the beachhead was established on the island fortress only 750 miles from Tokyo.
Examples
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You've got 4 hours to break through that beachhead.
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April 13, 1945: About 350 miles from the Japanese mainland, U.S. invasion forces established a beachhead on Okinawa Island.
Blog text (11) -
Remember, keep the beachhead clear.
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Well, we got the beachhead secure.
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There must be no Soviet beachhead in Central America.
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Establish the beachhead, then put back to sea and meet the new threat.
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Prime Minister, we have secured the beachhead.
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The same cannot be said of the soldiers on the Salerno beachhead.
Academic text (2002) -
The beachhead could not be enlarged and paratroopers were soon trying to fight their way back to the small section of the shore where the invaders were pinned down.
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The military successfully established a beachhead on the enemy's shore, allowing for further operations inland.
Synonyms
9
7.0
A small area taken in enemy land and held for future advance
1
9.5
An area at a bridge's end soldiers capture and hold in enemy land to let more troops cross
1
9.9
A place captured by soldiers arriving by plane and used as a base for more attacks
How Secure
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Beachhead comes from joining beach 'shore' and head 'front' or 'high point'. It originally named the place on an enemy shore that attackers secure after a landing to use as a base for moving inland.