milestone
Americannoun
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a stone functioning as a milepost.
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a significant event or stage in the life, progress, development, or the like of a person, nation, etc..
Her getting the job of supervisor was a milestone in her career.
noun
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a stone pillar that shows the distance in miles to or from a place
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a significant event in life, history, etc
Etymology
Origin of milestone
Explanation
A milestone is a significant event in your life. Often a milestone marks the start of a new chapter. For example, the day you graduated from high school was a milestone in your life. Milestone literally refers to a roadside marker that lists the distance to a particular location. These days, the word is more often used figuratively to refer to significant events in life, like graduating from college or getting married. It acts sort of like the road sign: it's often a moment when you reflect on where you stand in life. A milestone can also be a nonpersonal event that results in a big change, such as a milestone victory or a company's sales milestone.
Vocabulary lists containing milestone
Prisoner B-3087
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Nelson Mandela "I am Prepared to Die" (1964)
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History is made in PA: Clinton's DNC Acceptance Speech
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Appeared in the November 13, 2025, print edition as 'Dow Tops 48000 Milestone Even as Tech Lags'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 12, 2025
Private equity smells blood: Milestone Group, for example, just closed a $1.1 billion fund targeting distressed properties.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 6, 2025
Footage from Milestone School and College in the northern suburb of Uttara shows a huge fire and thick smoke, after the aircraft slammed into a two-storey building.
From BBC • Jul. 21, 2025
After a few false starts, he called his place the Milestone Mo-Tel, combining motor and hotel.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2025
Mr Milestone was impatient to take a walk round the grounds, that he might examine how far the system of clumping and levelling could be carried advantageously into effect.
From Headlong Hall by Peacock, Thomas Love
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
