breakthrough

See also break through

English

Alternative forms

• breakthru, breakthru (US, nonstandard)

Etymology

break +‎ through

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbreɪkθruː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

breakthrough (not comparable)

1. Characterized by major progress or overcoming some obstacle.

   a breakthrough technological advance

Translations

characterized by major progress

• Finnish: läpimurto- (fi)
• French: capital (fr), primordial (fr), décisif (fr)

• Hebrew: פורץ-דרך (he) (poretz-derekh) m, פורצת-דרך (he) (poretzet-derekh) f
• Hungarian: áttörő (hu)

Noun

breakthrough (plural breakthroughs)

1. (military) An advance through and past enemy lines.
2. Any major progress; such as a great innovation or discovery that overcomes a significant obstacle.

   Albert Einstein is credited with making some of the greatest breakthroughs in modern physics.

3. (sports) The penetration of the opposition defence
   • 2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, BBC Sport:

     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.

Translations

military advance

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 突破 (cmn) (tūpò)

• Dutch: doorbraak (nl) c
• Finnish: läpimurto (fi)
• French: percée (fr) f, trouée (fr) f
• German: Durchbruch (de) m

• Hungarian: áttörés (hu)
• Italian: breccia (it) f
• Japanese: 突破 (ja) (とっぱ, toppa)
• Russian: проры́в (ru) (prorýv) m 
• Spanish: brecha (es) f

major progress

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 突破 (cmn) (tūpò)

• Czech: průlom (cs) m
• Dutch: doorbraak (nl) c
• Finnish: läpimurto (fi)
• French: percée (fr) f, avancée (fr) f
• German: Durchbruch (de) m

• Hebrew: פריצת-דרך (he) (pritzat-derekh) f
• Hungarian: áttörés (hu)
• Irish: urfhuascailt (ga) f
• Japanese: 突破 (ja) (とっぱ, toppa)
• Russian: проры́в (ru) (prorýv) m 
• Swedish: genombrott (sv)

(sports) penetration of the opposition defence

• French: trouée (fr) f, percée (fr) f

• Russian: проры́в (ru) (prorýv) m 

Derived terms

• breakthrough pain