footing vs toehold

footing and toehold both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
footing	Yes	No	No	No
toehold	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, toehold is a hyponym of footing; that is, toehold is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than footing:

footing (noun)	toehold (noun)
a place providing support for the foot in standing or climbing	a wrestling hold in which the toe is held and the leg is twisted against the joints
a relation that provides the foundation for something	a small foothold used in climbing
status with respect to the relations between people or groups	a relatively insignificant position from which future progress might be made