Word.ws English Dictionary

in the foothills

in the foothills prepositional phrase: in the earliest stages; at the outset.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic) In the earliest stages; at the outset.
    • LeBaron followed electronics stocks, which were in the foothills of a major market surge.1994, Steven L. Mintz, Five Eminent Contrarians: Careers, Perspectives, and Investment Tactics, page 13
    • We seemed in the foothills of a fabulous conversation when quite suddenly he was asleep.2002, Arthur Nevis, Lares, page 12

Origin of in the foothills

Presumably a reference to the need to pass through foothills before attempting to climb a mountain.

Questions about in the foothills

What does in the foothills mean?
In the foothills means in the earliest stages; at the outset.
What part of speech is in the foothills?
In the foothills is a prepositional phrase.

Words near in the foothills in the dictionary

  1. in the final analysis
  2. in the first instance
  3. in the first place
  4. in the flesh
  5. in the flower of one's youth
  6. in the foothills
  7. in the frame
  8. in the front row
  9. in the furtherance of justice
  10. in the future
  11. in the game

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in the foothills (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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