break·through

[breyk-throo]
noun
1.
a military movement or advance all the way through and beyond an enemy's front-line defense.
2.
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.
3.
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
4.
constituting a breakthrough: engineered with breakthrough technology; Critics called it a breakthrough film.

Origin:
1915–20; noun use of verb phrase break through

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To breakthrough
00:10
Breakthrough is always a great word to know.
So is lollapalooza. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

breakthrough
1918, in a military sense, from break + through. The verbal phrase is attested from c.1400. Meaning "abrupt solution or progress" is from 1930s, on the notion of a successful attack.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Short of a major breakthrough or crisis, the country's economic makeup is
  unlikely to change.
The genomics approach to identifying nematodes and bacteria is a major
  breakthrough.
Measuring an athletes vital statistics is an amazing breakthrough in technology.
Meyer followed her breakthrough with three sequels in the next three years, all
  of which became gigantic bestsellers.
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