jumping-off point

Related to jumping-off point: leaping, jumped out

jumping-off point

A starting point for something. I know you're unhappy with their offer, so just consider it a jumping-off point and come up with a counteroffer.
See also: point
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

jumping-off point

 and jumping-off place
a point or place from which to begin something. The local library is a good jumping-off point for your research. The office job in that company would be a good jumping-off place for a career in advertising.
See also: point
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • come to the point
  • come to the point and get to the point
  • come/get to the point
  • get to the point
  • get to the point, to
  • all over but the shouting, it's
  • it's all over but the shouting
  • all over but the shouting
  • all over bar the shouting
  • it's all over bar the shouting
References in periodicals archive
Many schools use it as a jumping-off point for daylong programs that teach tolerance and respect.
This exhibition uses the journal as a jumping-off point to explore the originality and exaggerated idiosyncrasy of '90s aesthetics.
THE occasion that gives this tour its title is the 150th anniversary of Darwin's Origin of Species, which wouldn't be an obvious jumping-off point for most dance companies.
The International Astronomical Union's decision to downgrade Pluto's status from a planet is the book's jumping-off point, from which Boyle backtracks to relate the history of Pluto's discovery and naming, the discovery of its moon, its scientific features, and all the developments of its scientific study, including developments in the technology of telescopes and space missions.
It's an ideal jumping-off point from which to explore Barcelona.
It is an important jumping-off point for trekkers and mountaineers heading to Everest.
But where should you stay as a jumping-off point for exciting and revelatory trips out into this jostling metropolis?
But Little Rock is only a jumping-off point. The Keets have exclusive franchise rights to all of Arkansas and Missouri.
As a follow-up, ABC News writer Michael Malone notes the theory and uses it as a jumping-off point to look at Drudge's large and growing influence.
It's probably the campiest and most accessible of Almodovar's films, making it a great jumping-off point for viewers curious about the writer-director.
A house's roof served as a jumping-off point (literally).
The lessons for this day reflect those themes and serve as the jumping-off point for the third and final part of the Advent/Christmas/Epiphany cycle.
Spitzer's energetic impatience with the status quo has succeeded brilliantly for him in political terms, which is why he has an overwhelming lead in every poll to be the next governor of New York, a traditional jumping-off point for higher office, including bids for the presidency.
Starting a pilot program based on the COSO framework is a good jumping-off point for ideas on how to adapt it.
This is the base recipe at Gabriel's, and is intended only as a jumping-off point; add more garlic, jalapeno, onion, salt, lime juice, or cilantro to your taste.