foothold vs stilt

foothold

noun
  • A solid grip with the feet. 

  • A secure position from which it is difficult to be dislodged. 

  • Airhead, beachhead, bridgehead, lodgement. 

stilt

noun
  • Either of two poles with footrests that allow someone to stand or walk above the ground; used mostly by entertainers. 

  • The handle of a plough. 

  • A crutch. 

  • Any of various wading birds of the genera Himantopus and Cladorhynchus, related to the avocet, that have extremely long legs and long thin bills. 

  • A tall pillar or post used to support some structure; often above water. 

verb
  • to raise on stilts, or as if on stilts 

  • to apply unnecessary pomp or formality 

How often have the words foothold and stilt occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )