breakthrough

CEFRC1

/ˈbɹeɪk.θɹuː/

noun · adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
noun
An important discovery or advance.
02
noun
Extra detail
An advance through and past enemy lines.

Examples

He badly exaggerated his ability to achieve a breakthrough.
Representatives made a major breakthrough in the trade talks.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 5
Parts of speech: 2
Citations: 5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

Involving the contraction of a disease by a person with a decreased susceptibility, such as a person who has been vaccinated to help prevent that disease.
Any major progress; such as a great innovation or discovery that overcomes a significant obstacle.

adjective

Extra meaning

Characterized by major progress or overcoming some obstacle.

More examples

In context

This discovery was perceived as a major breakthrough.
Albert Einstein is credited with making some of the greatest breakthroughs in modern physics.
She was on two antiepileptics for five years but then had a breakthrough seizure.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The scientists celebrated their blank in cancer research after years of failed experiments.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

Breakthrough infections (urine infections that develop in children on antibiotics) can occasionally occur, and if they do, different preventative antibiotics can be given or sometimes surgery to fix the leaky valve can be undertaken.
a. 2005, “Brochure - Urinary Reflux”, in Renal Resource Centre, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2004
In [Raymond] Kurzweil’s future, biotechnology and nanotechnology give us the power to manipulate our bodies and the world around us at will, at the molecular level. Progress hyperaccelerates, and every hour brings a century’s worth of scientific breakthroughs.
2011 February 10, Lev Grossman, “2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Mar 2025
"Secondly, we have to find more cost-effective ways of electrifying. And we've had a real breakthrough in the last couple of years in terms of bridge clearances and immunisation, meaning we've been able to take hundreds of millions of pounds off the cost of electrification.
2020 May 20, Andrew Haines talks to Stefanie Foster, “Repurpose rail for the 2020s”, in Rail, page 33
But with the lively Dos Santos pulling the strings behind strikers Pavlyuchenko and Defoe, Spurs controlled the first half without finding the breakthrough their dominance deserved.
2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 08 Dec 2022
There is also growing evidence that while Omicron may cause many breakthrough cases among previously infected or previously vaccinated populations, the morbidity and mortality associated with the disease among them will be lower, they added.
2022 January 15, “In open letter, 30 doctors issue appeal against use of ‘unwarranted medications, diagnostics’”, in The Indian Express, WordPress, archived from the original on 15 Jan 2022

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Origin

noun

From break + through. Compare German Durchbruch and Dutch doorbraak (“breakthrough”, literally “through-break”).

Deep Dive

noun

adjective

More examples

Quick test

The scientists celebrated their blank— in cancer research after years of failed experiments.

Nearby

Origin

noun

The scientists celebrated their blank in cancer research after years of failed experiments.