Dictionary
jump'ing-off' place"
Pronunciation: ( jum'ping-ôf', -of'), [key]1. a place for use as a starting point:
Paris was the jumping-off place for our tour of Europe.
2. an out-of-the-way place; the farthest limit of anything settled or civilized.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.