These have found a "foothold" in small cracks.
The process of losing or gaining electrons to become stable is called ionization.
They do not. An electron is negatively charged and an atom can only acquire a negative charge on gaining electrons.
Gaining electrons
negative
English (as a Language) was gaining a foothold in the church the court and in politics...
Writting system
I used a foothold to climb the mountain.
No. The Spanish monarchy has always been Catholic. Protestants in Spain were immediately targeted by the (already-existing) Spanish Inquisition and tortured. This prevented Protestantism from ever gaining a foothold in Iberia.
gaining weight
Opening up a two-front war that was fatal for Nazi Germany. Primarily, we succeeded in gaining a virtually unbreakable foothold in Europe in Normandy. We basically eradicated the Nazi's defenses on the coast when we attacked. Nothing was left.
footholds
Aurangzeb
The cast of Foothold on Antarctica - 1957 includes: Derek Williams as Himself - Commentator
the allies needed a foothold in Europe to defeat the Germans. Normandy was the foothold
Yes it does.
The meaning of the idiomatic expression, get a foothold in, is that you only need a small opening. This phrase is often used in business. One example of getting a foothold in would be getting an introduction to someone who works in a company that you would like to work in.