breakthrough

noun, often attributive break·through \ ˈbrāk-ˌthrü \

Updated on: 10 May 2018

Definition of breakthrough

1 warfare : an offensive military assault that penetrates and carries beyond a defensive line

2 : an act or instance of moving through or beyond an obstacle

a breakthrough in the talks between the region's leaders

a breakthrough agreement

3 a : a sudden advance especially in knowledge or technique

a medical breakthrough

b : a person's first notable success

a breakthrough novel

the actress's breakthrough performance

See breakthrough defined for English-language learners

See breakthrough defined for kids

Examples of breakthrough in a Sentence

Researchers say they have made a major breakthrough in cancer treatment.
The police have announced a breakthrough in the murder case.
This job could be the breakthrough she's been waiting for.

Recent Examples of breakthrough from the Web

Here, the traditional equation—mermaid holding a helpless, doomed man in her thrall—gets turned on its head and into a kind of a therapist-couch breakthrough.

— julia felsenthal, Vogue, "In Melissa Broder’s The Pisces, a Darkly Erotic Love Story Between a Woman and a Merman," 1 May 2018
There’s good reason to be skeptical of a breakthrough in Beijing.

— tory newmyer, Washington Post, "The Finance 202: Trump team's trade diplomacy faces critical tests in Europe and Asia," 30 Apr. 2018
The team made a breakthrough on Oct. 21 with a win over Georgia Southern, snapping a nine-game losing streak.

— matt murschel, OrlandoSentinel.com, "UMass is No. 120 in Orlando Sentinel preseason college football rankings," 29 Apr. 2018
Shortly before Trump met with Abe on Tuesday, news of another potential breakthrough emerged, as Bloomberg News reported that the leaders of North Korea and South Korea are in talks to end the war between the two nations.

— NBC News, "President Trump confirms direct U.S.-North Korea talks," 17 Apr. 2018
The prospect of a breakthrough after decades of dispute between China’s Communist leaders and a succession of popes has raised hopes but also stirred unusual public criticism of the Vatican.

— steven lee myers, BostonGlobe.com, "China insists on controlling country’s Catholics," 3 Apr. 2018
The song was a kind of writing breakthrough for Weiner as well.

— gil kaufman, Billboard, "Low Cut Connie Divert Their Male Gaze in Gritty 'Beverly' Video: Premiere," 13 Mar. 2018
To put it bluntly, there’s now a higher chance of diplomatic breakthrough, but also a higher chance of war if these talks breakdown.

— ian bremmer, Time, "Will the Trump-Kim Talks Solve the North Korea Problem? 5 Things to Remember," 9 Mar. 2018
From there, a pair of breakthroughs soon came from Japan.

— jonathan m. gitlin, Ars Technica, "Clever new cylinder control gives big MPG boost—and it’s ready to roll," 15 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'breakthrough.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of breakthrough

1915

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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breakthrough Synonyms

break through

verb

Definition of break through

intransitive verb

: to make a breakthrough

First Known Use of break through

1946

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

BREAKTHROUGH Defined for English Language Learners

breakthrough

noun

Definition of breakthrough for English Language Learners

: a sudden increase in knowledge, understanding, etc. : an important discovery that happens after trying for a long time to understand or explain something
: a person's first important success