get one's foot in the door
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.20 in modern English
28
Scrabble Score
20
Letters
3
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To initiate contact or a relationship; to gain access, especially to an entry-level job.
Example Sentences
- "And the legislature had better study Texas, before it commits this state to parimutuel betting, thus letting the professional gambler get his foot in the door."
- "Guinier recognizes the need for minorities to get their feet in the door, but argues that "insiders" must be authentic representatives in order for minorities to achive real political power."
- "But despite his academic credentials, Julian had to fight just to get his foot in the door at most laboratories."
- "He was able to gain employment as a cleaner relatively quickly. It was a 'foot in the door', but it wouldn't appease his ambition for long and he later qualified as a 'passed cleaner' (a fireman in all but name), based at King's Cross and St Pancras."
Etymology
Probably from a practice attributed to door-to-door salesmen of placing a foot in the opening of a prospective customer's door, thereby preventing the person from closing the door until the conclusion of the sales pitch.