vantage-groundn.
/ˈvɑːntɪdʒɡraʊnd/, /ˈvantɪdʒɡraʊnd/, U.S. /ˈvæn(t)ɪdʒˌɡraʊnd/ A position which places one at an advantage for defence or attack. Frequently in 19th cent., chiefly in figurative use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > mastery or superiority > [noun] > advantage over another > a position of advantage
higher ground1583
vantage-ground1612
coign of vantagea1616
high ground1800
place, point (etc.) of vantage1805–6
vantage-coign1808
inside track1857
vantage-placea1861
vantage-pointa1861
pole position1888
vantage1908
1612 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 41 That cannot be without power and place; as the vantage & commanding ground.
1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) i. 4 No pleasure is comparable, to the standing, vpon the vantage ground of Truth.
1644 Waller in Cal. State Papers, Domest. Ser. (1888) 301 I moved not till I had full assurance..that the enemy was clearly gone, lest it might have been but a feint to draw me from my vantage ground.
1775 E. Burke Speech Amer. Taxation 42 But I quit the vantage ground on which I stand, and where I might leave the burthen of the proof upon him.
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biogr. Lit. (Bohn) 164 I am convinced that for the human soul to prosper in rustic life a certain vantage-ground is pre-requisite.
1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. ii. vi. 173 A means of fresh attack with new vantage ground.
1878 G. F. Maclear Celts i. 10 Making the Greek colony of Massilia..her vantage-ground.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1612