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.
Just before the Covid-19 pandemic, the metro area hit a milestone: For the first time, it had more customer-service reps than manufacturing workers.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
The “NASA” ETF last week surpassed $1 billion in AUM after 37 trading days, which made it one of the fastest active equity ETFs to reach that milestone, according to Tema ETFs.
From MarketWatch • May 26, 2026
Beyond the discovery itself, the species also marks an important milestone for Voight, who has spent more than 40 years studying octopus evolution.
From Science Daily • May 25, 2026
On Sunday, she reached another milestone in a career that she was once told by doctors not to pursue.
From BBC • May 24, 2026
Murlidharan, the level-crossing lunatic, perched cross-legged and perfectly balanced on the milestone.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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.
