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breakthrough - 2 dictionary results

break⋅through

  [breyk-throo]
Use breakthrough in a Sentence
–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; n. use of v. phrase break through
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To breakthrough
break·through   (brāk'thrōō')   
n.  
  1. An act of overcoming or penetrating an obstacle or restriction.
  2. A military offensive that penetrates an enemy's lines of defense.
  3. A major achievement or success that permits further progress, as in technology.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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