quantum leap
quantum jump
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noun
a sudden highly significant advance; breakthrough
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Word Origin for quantum leap
C20: from its use in physics meaning the sudden jump of an electron, atom, etc from one energy level to another
Words nearby quantum leap
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
How to use quantum leap in a sentence
What they did was a quantum leap beyond their own success in 2008.
The GOP Faces Years in the Wilderness After 2012 Election Losses|Robert Shrum|November 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Cultural definitions for quantum leap
quantum leap
In physics, the movement of an electron from one orbit in an atom to another, sending out or taking on a photon in the process. (See Bohr atom.)
notes for quantum leap
Informally, a “quantum leap” may be any great, sudden, or discontinuous change.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with quantum leap
quantum leap
A dramatic advance, especially in knowledge or method, as in Establishing a central bank represents a quantum leap in this small country's development. This term originated as quantum jump in the mid-1900s in physics, where it denotes a sudden change from one energy state to another within an atom. Within a decade it was transferred to other advances, not necessarily sudden but very important ones.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.