Definition of "achievement" []

• The act of accomplishing or finishing. (noun)
• Something accomplished successfully, especially by means of exertion, skill, practice, or perseverance. See Synonyms at feat1. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "One day, thousands of years from now, after the devastating effects of climate change have successfully wiped out the majority of twenty-first century American culture through some cataclysmic disaster that leaves only ruins to be studied, much like how our society now studies ancient Babylon, the children of the future will be sitting in their futuristic classrooms watching the only remaining DVD of our era, which just so happens to be the first season of Big Time Rush, and the teacher is going to say, "This was the pinnacle of twenty-first century American musical achievement," and somewhere in the ethos (* insert name of composer who you feel best represents twenty-first century American musical achievement*) will cry out in despair."
• "Granted, it was a time when the graduation rate was a non-issue and the term achievement gap had yet to be coined."
• "But when you consider the magnitude of shifting from one conservative era to one in which government simply has to be deployed to tackle deep structural problems, the achievement is as significant as his election year."