breakthrough

[breyk-throo]

noun

a military movement or advance all the way through and beyond an enemy's front-line defense.
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.
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.

adjective

constituting a breakthrough: engineered with breakthrough technology; Critics called it a breakthrough film.

Origin of breakthrough

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for breakthroughs

development, hike, improvement, leap, gain, finding, progress, boost, discovery, increase, rise, invention, find

Examples from the Web for breakthroughs

Contemporary Examples of breakthroughs

Like Carver, Borlaug then sought to institutionalize his breakthroughs.
Growth Stocks
The Daily Beast
October 17, 2014
Patents provide a vital protection for innovation and breakthroughs.
Tesla’s Radical Patent Move is a Plot to Take Over the Road
Daniel Gross
June 15, 2014
But James was often too early to get credit for his breakthroughs.
Charles James Brings Ball Gowns Back to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Erin Cunningham
May 6, 2014
The book is also filled with stories of breakthroughs that began with a question.
Warren Berger Tells How to Ask a ‘Beautiful Question’
Scott Goodson
March 8, 2014
The summit, held this past Tuesday, does not seem to have made any breakthroughs on furthering the peace process.
Taliban’s Quetta Shura Meet in Islamabad to Press for Peace
Ron Moreau
November 1, 2013

Historical Examples of breakthroughs

Breakthroughs between entries, except as hereinbefore provided, shall be made not exceeding sixty feet apart.
Mining Laws of Ohio, 1921
Anonymous

Word Origin and History for breakthroughs

breakthrough

1918, in a military sense, from break (v.) + through (adv.). The verbal phrase is attested from c.1400. Meaning "abrupt solution or progress" is from 1930s, on the notion of a successful attack.