Definition of "springboard" [spring•board]

• Sports A flexible board mounted on a fulcrum with one end secured, used by gymnasts to gain momentum, as in vaulting. (noun)
• Sports See diving board. (noun)
• Something that helps to launch a career or activity. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The Times suggests that Palin is following in Obama's footsteps, whose book "The Audacity of Hope" is what they called his springboard to the presidency."
• "Now that is what I call the springboard situation."
• "They are what I call springboard situations, where suspense starts practically in the first reel."