milestone

Everyday

1. A stone by the side of a road showing how many miles it is to a town. tree →
2. An important event or step in someone's life or in a project, like a first word or a 100th birthday. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life: «a big milestone» for a baby's first steps, starting school, a team's 1000th goal. In history: Roman roads had milestones. In stories, a traveller counts the milestones to see how far he has come. Phrases: reach a milestone, an important milestone, mark a milestone.

Examples

• The old milestone said «London 12 miles». tree →
• Walking was a big milestone for my baby brother. tree →
• Our school reached a milestone: 500 books read! tree →
• Toad sped past milestone after milestone in his motor car. tree →
• Losing your first tooth is a milestone. tree →
• The Romans put milestones along their roads. tree →
• Finishing the project was an important milestone for the class. tree →
• The Prince hurried to the town, but Hyacinthia remained behind disguised as a white milestone on the road. tree →

Note

Countable: a milestone, two milestones. The road sense is old and literal; the «important step» sense is now the common one. Not the same as «millstone» (a heavy stone for grinding grain; «a millstone round your neck» is a burden).