breakthrough

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

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

There has been no decisive breakthrough on any of them so far.

— Washington Post, "Juncker: No talks on new ties before Brexit issues settled," 29 Aug. 2017
With so many superfluous bowl games, reaching one barely qualifies as a breakthrough.

— gentry estes, The Courier-Journal, "Roundtable: Who goes bowling? More wins in 2017? Kentucky football or U of L football?," 27 Aug. 2017
Kentucky and Vanderbilt are trying to build off bowl breakthroughs last season.

— tod palmer, kansascity, "Can Mizzou football return to a bowl game? Predictions, keys for the 2017 season," 26 Aug. 2017
For some reason this medical breakthrough has not been adopted by M.D. Anderson — possibly because Ritz Crackers mitigate the effect of CLA, the ingredient in Cheez Whiz that supposedly prevents cancerous tumors.

— ed wallace, star-telegram, "Cars: The “Big Brother” Editions," 4 Aug. 2017
Of her great breakthroughs, perhaps the most easily explained involves hyperbolic surfaces: roughly, doughnuts with two or more holes, but where each point on the surface curves upwards, like a saddle.

— The Economist, "Adding upObituary: Maryam Mirzakhani died on July 14th," 20 July 2017
North Korea has signaled a willingness to consider Moon’s overtures, but has voiced skepticism about the prospects for a breakthrough.

— kanga kong, Bloomberg.com, "Moon Seeks 2020 Deal for Peace With Nuclear-Free North Korea," 19 July 2017
Last December, Smith (23-1, 19 KOs) made a career breakthrough against Bernard Hopkins.

— by santos a. perez, miamiherald, "Light-heavyweight Sullivan Barrera continues to be a star for HBO," 9 July 2017
In 1996, McLachlan was 28, still climbing the charts with singles from her breakthrough album, Fumbling Toward Ecstasy, and struggling to write the follow-up, Surfacing, which would become her best-selling record.

— melissa maerz, Glamour, "The Oral History of Lilith Fair, As Told By the Women Who Lived It," 5 July 2017

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

breakthrough Synonyms

Synonyms

advancement, advance, enhancement, improvement, refinement

Antonyms

setback

Near Antonyms

breakdown, collapse, crash; hindrance, impediment, stumbling block; decadence, decay, declension, decline, decrease, degeneration, descent, deterioration, diminishment, downgrade, ebbing, failing, flagging, languishment, lapse, lessening, reduction, sinking, slowing, weakening, worsening; detriment, disablement, drawback, glitch, impairment, shortcoming

break through

verb

Definition of break through

intransitive verb

:to make a breakthrough

First Known Use of break through

1946

BREAKTHROUGH Defined for English Language Learners

breakthrough

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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