One fingerhold on a simple code is the fact that some words are more common than others, such as "the" or "a" in English.

Within moments he had a fingerhold, and that was all he needed.

Each had eight small handles, hardly large enough for a fingerhold, arranged around the top and near the base.

Feeling around the edge of the panels, Sophie found a recessed fingerhold.

Rod shouted, trying to bat it away with one hand while the other clung to a fingerhold.

Advocates for the homeless say drug or alcohol abuse send people who may have only a fingerhold on society into a tailspin.

The other assisted him out of the flitter and kept a tight fingerhold on him.

I managed to pull out the keys and was finally able to pry up the splintered edge enough to get a fingerhold.

He had found a fingerhold for himself, and a glimpse of strength with which he might haul himself to safety.

She began to struggle to pull herself up, clawing for a fingerhold, straining her arms until she felt the muscles start to cramp.

He could see lots of stonework, but if there was as much as a fingerhold in reach of the bridge, the night hid it.

Lao Ti stood against the side of the building and reached up, securing a fingerhold on the top edge of the bricks above her head.

Coding errors are a particularly useful fingerhold into a code; people reliably make errors, sometimes disastrous ones.

I would have sworn that my fingerhold on it had been tight, that it could not have shifted so by chance.

Pol fought them, and with every instant sensed Andry re- gain another fingerhold on the ros'salath.

When Al released his fingerhold, Mikey sank down weakly onto his haunches, gasping and sobbing, shuddering all over.

By dawn on 25 October, General MacArthur's fingerhold on the Philippines could well be in mortal peril.

Perhaps if he ever guessed the truth, he might lose his last thin fingerhold on reason and finally go insane, wallowing in a morass of guilt associations.

The wall was vertical and fashioned of flat, polished stone; he could see his reflection in it, but he couldn't catch so much as a fingerhold for climbing.

His propped feet began to slide against an abruptly slippery surface; desperately he fumbled for a toehold, a fingerhold, anything to anchor him just a little more securely.

He could only gape in horrified disbelief as the monster, having been somehow granted some kind of fingerhold within the lock, proceeded to make good use of it, applying his full strength.

"There you are," gasped Ford, scrabbling for a fingerhold on the pavement as it raced through the Third Reach of the Unknown, "I told you I'd think of something."

Everyone has to be open-minded and tolerant of the things they believe, but God forbid they should ever concede, even for a moment, that someone who disagrees with them might have some fingerhold on truth."

He didn't seem to realize what a slender fingerhold they had on security and how important it was to make more money in these troublous times when money was the only protection against fresh calamities.

He reached as high as he could and found another smoo the fingerhold, and with all the strength of his arms gained another few feet, rested a moment, and then reached up again.