quantum leap

British  

noun

1. a sudden highly significant advance; breakthrough

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quantum leap Cultural  

1. In physics, the movement of an electron from one orbit in an atom to another, sending out or taking on a photon in the process. (See Bohr atom.)

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quantum leap Idioms  

1. A dramatic advance, especially in knowledge or method, as in Establishing a central bank represents a quantum leap in this small country's development. This term originated as quantum jump in the mid-1900s in physics, where it denotes a sudden change from one energy state to another within an atom. Within a decade it was transferred to other advances, not necessarily sudden but very important ones.

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Discover More

Informally, a “quantum leap” may be any great, sudden, or discontinuous change.

Etymology

Origin of quantum leap

C20: from its use in physics meaning the sudden jump of an electron, atom, etc from one energy level to another

Example Sentences

China’s renewed tightening of export controls is “a quantum leap in severity and coverage of such controls,” the economist says.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 13, 2025

“This is a big deal. This is a quantum leap forward for civilian oversight commissions.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025

In elite distance running, that’s not a marginal gain, it’s a quantum leap.

From Slate • Jun. 28, 2025

Fin Smith is the man tasked with delivering a quantum leap forward.

From BBC • Feb. 8, 2025

Nothing in between is allowed, so to get from 30 to 40 miles an hour, you have to make a quantum leap.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife