ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Breakthrough

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˈbɹeɪk.θɹuː/ · Part of speech adjective

Quick meaning: Breakthrough is an adjective meaning Characterized by major progress or overcoming some obstacle.

Meaning

Characterized by major progress or overcoming some obstacle.

More Meanings

  1. (military) An advance through and past enemy lines.
  2. Any major progress; such as a great innovation or discovery that overcomes a significant obstacle.
  3. (sports) The penetration of the opposition's defence.
  4. (medicine, sometimes attributive) The emergence or one or more symptoms of a condition despite medication or other medical treatment.
  5. (immunology) Involving the contraction of a disease by a person with a decreased susceptibility, such as a person who has been vaccinated to help prevent that disease.
  6. (construction) The penetration of a separating wall or the remaining distance to an adjacent hollow (a crosscut in mining) or between two parts of a tunnel build from both ends.

Example Sentences

a breakthrough technological advance
She was on two antiepileptics for five years but then had a breakthrough seizure.
Albert Einstein is credited with making some of the greatest breakthroughs in modern physics.
But with the lively Dos Santos pulling the strings behind strikers Pavlyuchenko and Defoe, Spurs controlled the first half without finding the breakthrough their dominance deserved.

Word Forms

Synonyms for breakthrough

Depending on context, synonyms include knockthrough, discovery.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include discovery, opening, completion, accomplishment, achievement, development.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.