breakthrough

American  

[breyk-throo] / ˈbreɪkˌθru /

noun

1. a military movement or advance all the way through and beyond an enemy's frontline defense.

2. an act or instance of removing or surpassing an obstruction or restriction; the overcoming of a stalemate.

   The president reported a breakthrough in the treaty negotiations.

3. any significant or sudden advance, development, achievement, or increase, as in scientific knowledge or diplomacy, that removes a barrier to progress.

   The jet engine was a major breakthrough in air transport.

4. Medicine/Medical. an infection, disease, disorder, or condition that occurs in an individual despite their having received a vaccine, medication, or treatment.

   Covid breakthroughs are usually less severe than infections in unvaccinated people, indicating that the vaccine is still doing its job of combating the virus.

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adjective

1. constituting a breakthrough: Critics called it a breakthrough film.

   Their products are engineered with breakthrough technology.

   Critics called it a breakthrough film.

2. Medicine/Medical. relating to or being an infection, disease, disorder, or condition that occurs as a breakthrough: She experienced disabling breakthrough pain despite the high dose of painkillers she was taking.

   In the original vaccine trial, 89% of breakthrough infections were with a particular family of virus strains.

   She experienced disabling breakthrough pain despite the high dose of painkillers she was taking.

Etymology

Origin of breakthrough

First recorded in 1915–20; noun use of verb phrase break through

Example Sentences

But Newcastle have not always made the most of all that possession, and they failed to find a breakthrough in the goalless stalemate against Wolves earlier this month despite having 67% possession of the ball.

From BBC

This breakthrough gives scientists a unique way to examine the final years of a massive star's life before it ends in a violent supernova.

From Science Daily

The breakthrough clears the path for a potential swearing-in of new ministers in mid-February.

From Barron's

Many transformative breakthroughs, including lithography techniques and new transistor materials, took years or even decades to move from research labs into industrial production.

From Science Daily

For a long time, that event was thought to represent a sudden biological breakthrough.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• boost
• development
• discovery
• finding
• gain
• hike
• improvement
• leap
• progress