quantum
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quantum leap
A sudden or important change or improvement. Gary's new job in upper management is a quantum leap forward from his old position at the factory.
quantum jump
A sudden or important change or improvement. That brand-new shopping center is a quantum jump from the old, run-down mall that used to be in that location.
quantum leap
A dramatic advance, especially in knowledge or method, as in Establishing a central bank represents a quantum leap in this small country's development. This term originated as quantum jump in the mid-1900s in physics, where it denotes a sudden change from one energy state to another within an atom. Within a decade it was transferred to other advances, not necessarily sudden but very important ones.
a quantum leap
A quantum leap is a very great and sudden increase in the size, amount, or quality of something. The vaccine represents a quantum leap in healthcare. The scale of migration took a quantum leap in the early 1970s. Note: People sometimes say a quantum jump with the same meaning. We want a quantum jump in exports.
quantum leap
a sudden large increase or advance.A literal quantum leap is the abrupt transition of an electron, atom, or molecule from one quantum state to another.
a quantum ˈleap
(also a quantum ˈjump less frequent) a sudden very large increase, advance or improvement in something: This latest research represents a quantum leap in our understanding of the universe. ♢ The quantum leap in writing technology came with the introduction of personal computers.In physics, a quantum jump is a sudden change in a physical quality such as energy from one fixed level to another.