JUMPING-OFF PLACE

n. phr. 1. A place so far away that it seems to be the end of the world. Columbus' sailors were afraid they would arrive at the jumping-off place if they sailed farther west. So you visited Little America? That sounds like the jumping-off place! 2. The starting place of a long, hard trip or of something difficult or dangerous. The jumping-off place for the explorer's trip through the jungle was a little village.