breakthrough

1. 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. The penetration of the opposition's defence.
4. The penetration of a separating wall or the remaining distance to an adjacent hollow (a crosscut in mining) or between two parts of a tunnel build from both ends.
5. The emergence or one or more symptoms of a condition despite medication or other medical treatment. · She was on two antiepileptics for five years but then had a breakthrough seizure.· He was managing his discomfort with common painkillers, but one morning he had breakthrough pain causing him to miss work.

Plural breakthroughs