Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An act of overcoming or penetrating an obstacle or restriction.
- n. A military offensive that penetrates an enemy's lines of defense.
- n. A major achievement or success that permits further progress, as in technology.
Wiktionary
- adj. Characterized by major progress or overcoming some obstacle.
- n. military An advance through and past enemy lines (or vice versa).
- n. Any major progress; such as a great innovation or discovery that overcomes a significant obstacle.
- n. sports The penetration of the opposition defence
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. a productive insight.
- n. a sudden change of situation, such as making an important discovery, that permits further rapid advances toward a goal.
- n. (Mil.) a penetration of an enemy's defense in depth and strength.
WordNet 3.0
- v. break out
- v. penetrate.
- v. pass through (a barrier)
- n. making an important discovery
- n. a productive insight
- n. a penetration of a barrier such as an enemy's defense
Etymologies
- break + through (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The term breakthrough innovation is used consciously as opposed to nominal or incremental innovation with little or no social value.”
Complexity, IPR Rights and Innovation Ecologies: Distributive Considerations
“SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, first of all, I think -- the term breakthrough I think gets overused.”
“Okay, okay, the word breakthrough has been hopelessly overused … and thus cheapened beyond recognition.”
“Therapists use the term breakthrough a lot, and it was one, but it's still a bit tender.”
“But critics say the breakthrough is a step towards human cloning and erodes the sanctity of human life.”
New Era of Designer Babies with Three Parents and No Hereditary Diseases | Impact Lab
“Then he got what he describes as his breakthrough idea: an online multiplayer version that can be used to conduct a "Massive Market Madness Tournament" with thousands of high schools across the country.”
The Wall Street Journal: And the Most Innovative Entrepreneur Is...
“Severstal, based in Russia, last year announced plans to build what it called a breakthrough automotive steel.”
“KAYSERI, Turkey—The Nabucco consortium signed agreements Wednesday with transit countries for a pipeline it is building to bring natural gas to Europe via Turkey, in what it called a breakthrough for the troubled project.”
“The Nabucco consortium signed pacts with transit countries for a pipeline to bring natural gas to Europe via Turkey, in what it called a breakthrough.”
“The company recently won what it called breakthrough commuter-train orders from China and France.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘breakthrough’.
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EU Buzz - ALL words and expressions
A combined list of
1. EU Buzz - single words
2. EU Buzz - collocations
3. EU Buzz - the 100 most active
collocation constituentsabsorption capacity, absorption rate, acceding country, accession candidate, accession countries, accession country, accession criteria, accession cycle, accession negotia..., accession partner..., accession priorities, accession treaty and 2650 more...
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Headlines & Newsmakers
frugality, environment, extinction, bible, killer, jazz, cloning, dead, god, moon, global warming, bailout and 340 more...
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WF - nominal compounds (figurative)
An extensive list I have been working on for quite some time. Feel free to add more of the kind if you miss any.
brainstorming, upside, downside, goldplating, bikeshedding, mudslinging, downgrading, headhunter, streamlining, mainstreaming, gerrymandering, frontloading and 503 more...
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Hydrocarbon Energy Exploration/Extrac...
A list of terms encountered in the jargon of hydrocarbon exploration, mapping, and extraction.
hydrofracking, hydraulic fracturing, drilling, borehole, rig, formation, shale, coal, marl, seismic, horizontal drilling, unconventional ga... and 77 more...
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Amalgamations
Words that have been smashed together.
keystone, touchstone, footprint, thunderhead, seesaw, textbook, leftovers, watchword, afterbirth, fieldwork, outcast, statesman and 148 more...
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nominative case collection
wine stopper, pyre, roster, hamper, moleskin, elastic, pinnacle, facsimile, nook, plonk, contortionist, dismay and 342 more...
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NTB
chaos, Sagittarius, aether, magic, jester, fool, random, delirium, fire, life, cosmic, riddle and 120 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, B
bloviate, bejesus, brouhaha, behoove, bodacious, bamboozle, banshee, bub, bolus, blob, bubbly, bleb and 414 more...
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Sportie: Cricket
Wordieworthy jargon from the impenetrable world of cricket.
wicket, on, off, pitch, howzat, stumps, bail, willow, inswinger, outswinger, seamer, duck and 132 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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Noesis
Mind or Mind Altering
example: psychotomimetic
( _mark, personal list, randomness )noetic, entheogen, psychonautics, infinite, bewilderment, mystification, stupefication, enhanced, altered, perception, simulation, network and 204 more...
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a few of my favorite words
these are some of my favorite words...
brilliant, delicious, lovely, ever, with, present, here, light, radiant, bright, beauty, live and 209 more...
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Ad Speak
This list will house words I encounter on packaging and in advertisements.
microwaveable, phenylketonurics, phenylalanine, bioplastic, compostable, biocompostable, all natural, resealable, cholesterol, organic, serving, guaranteed and 57 more...
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Words to use more often
atavistic, nescient, risible, inveigh, decrepit, Parsimonious, elucidating, slake, inalienable, seamless, effulgence, nocturne and 11 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for breakthrough.
hernesheir In oil/gas extraction and production parlance, breakthrough most commonly refers to water or gas breakthrough, where water or gas injected via injection wells to maintain reservoir pressure breaks through to the producing well(s). Jun 2, 2010
reesetee Ha! That kind of clue drives my father crazy. Mar 6, 2008
oroboros Good news for a scientist, bad news for a roofer! --NYT crossword puzzle clue Mar 6, 2008