steppingstone

plural steppingstones

1. alternativeAlternative form of stepping stone.

   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.

   2014 June 9, Kenneth Chang, “Seeing Obstacle-Filled Path to Mars”, in The New York Times

   2 more examples

   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.

   2001 August 21, Jennifer 8. Lee, “Postdoc Trail: Long and Filled With Pitfalls”, in The New York Times

   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.

   2021 January 27, Elizabeth Williamson, “Rioters Followed a Long Conspiratorial Road to the Capitol”, in The New York Times