BREAKTHROUGH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does breakthrough mean? 

• BREAKTHROUGH (noun)
  The noun BREAKTHROUGH has 3 senses:

1. a productive insight

2. making an important discovery

3. a penetration of a barrier such as an enemy's defense

  Familiarity information: BREAKTHROUGH used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BREAKTHROUGH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A productive insight

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

breakthrough; discovery; find

Hypernyms ("breakthrough" is a kind of...):

brainstorm; brainwave; insight (the clear (and often sudden) understanding of a complex situation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Making an important discovery

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("breakthrough" is a kind of...):

discovery; find; uncovering (the act of discovering something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A penetration of a barrier such as an enemy's defense

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("breakthrough" is a kind of...):

incursion; penetration (an attack that penetrates into enemy territory)

Derivation:

break through (penetrate)

 Context examples 

That is a breakthrough because it suggests that we might soon be able to find other planets that are habitable like our own Earth.

(Potentially Habitable 'Super-Earths' Found Orbiting around Sun's near Neighbor, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The breakthrough was achieved by combining two conventional methods of biological engineering for maximum effect.

(Mosquitos rendered infertile by biological engineering, SciDev.Net)

That clue points to an area of an impending breakthrough.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The breakthrough came in a report in the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed journal.

(US Researchers Genetically Modify Corn to Boost Nutritional Value, VOA News)

These severe flares of pain are called breakthrough pain because the pain "breaks through" the regular pain medication.

(Breakthrough pain, NCI Thesaurus)

Breakthrough pain can occur spontaneously or in relation to a specific activity.

(Breakthrough pain, NCI Dictionary)

SIMP0136 was the object of a past scientific breakthrough, when they found evidence suggesting it has a cloudy atmosphere.

(NASA’s Webb Telescope to Investigate Mysterious Brown Dwarfs, NASA)

Still, health experts say, targeting the newly discovered biological mechanism — a so-called neuro-immune axis — could be a breakthrough that one day leads to new treatments for heart disease, sleep, and other disorders.

(Study helps solve mystery of how sleep protects against heart disease, National Institutes of Health)

A nine-year joint research project has led to a crucial breakthrough in cancer research.

(Scientists Reveal The Relationship Between Sugar, Cancer, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Cells can be programmed like a computer to fight cancer, influenza, and other serious conditions, thanks to a breakthrough in synthetic biology.

(Cells Programmed Like Computers to Fight Disease, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)