milestone
Americannoun
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milestones
plural
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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
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
This week saw a new milestone when Nvidia and a host of Wall Street entities announced plans to deploy $500 billion of capital to provide financing at “attractive rates” for chip purchases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
On Saturday, the Westside community marked a long overdue milestone for fire-weary residents: the reopening of the Palisades Village shopping center.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Becoming a homeowner is a major life milestone, but it’s not an easy transition from renting.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
The EMA's acceptance "represents a major milestone, especially considering that more than 200 million people live in Lyme disease risk areas in Europe," Valneva's chief executive Thomas Lingelbach said in the statement.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Here the arc of the story soars upward unstoppably, pausing only to mark some fresh milestone of corporate expansion.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
People with dementia and Alzheimer’s diagnoses and their caregivers also must weigh other big milestones such as stopping driving, quitting a job or handing over management of household finances, Tan said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026
Blue Origin is now working through additional integration milestones ahead of the lander's next round of testing.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
In 2024 then–Surgeon General Vivek Murthy identified one of the main culprits: “A ‘culture of comparison’—often perpetuated online—around milestones, parenting and achievements, ‘has left many families feeling exhausted, burned out, and perpetually behind.’
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
With Durban stripped of the rights to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games after failing to meet key milestones or provide financial guarantees, Birmingham stepped in.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Fortunately, I met all of my mental-development milestones, and a test showed I was smart enough to make all the effort worthwhile.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
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.
