to break the glass ceiling
1
6.4
- idiom
:
romper el techo de cristal
- She aims to break the glass ceiling and become the first woman to lead the company.
- woman who breaks the glass ceiling
The assumption that women would vote for Clinton to help her break the glass ceiling.
- The assumption that women would vote for Clinton to help her break the glass ceiling.
- Hillary leaned in a lot into being that first woman to break the glass ceiling.
- Women who break the glass ceiling with their bodies still have to figure out how to exercise authority with their voices.
- You're gonna call you're gonna call them record Breakers that they broke the glass ceiling.
Examples
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No. 500: We want to break the glass ceiling, but we have no problem continuing to break your bank account.
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Hillary being president is the ultimate in breaking the glass ceiling.
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So I think it's great that the women here have broken the glass ceiling that so many women have.
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Have you broken the glass ceiling and talked to the audience as the business woman that you are yet?
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No, not anyone who wants to break the glass ceiling can do so.
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Women who break the glass ceiling with their bodies still have to figure out how to exercise authority with their voices.
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I broke the glass ceiling today testing a prototype.
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Every time I've wanted to promote a woman... ...10 break the glass ceiling... ...it's always been the same story: "But, Bob...
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And what I realized during this... ...very interesting week... ...is that I have probably focused too much on... ...breaking the glass ceiling, on finding a woman to run things here... ...when what I should have been looking for is the best person... ...to run things up here.
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They have had some trouble exercising power, sometimes acting more like a man because they have only begun to break the glass ceiling.
Blog text (1)
Synonyms
154
2.7
To move to a higher job or position
43
3.2
Get a better job or higher position at work
7
4.5
To get more successful and reach a higher social or economic position
How Accessible
1
6.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'break' (overcome), 'glass' (transparent/fragile), and 'ceiling' (a limit or cap) give a plausible image of overcoming an invisible limit, so learners can partially infer a non-literal meaning. However, the specific sociopolitical sense—institutional barriers that prevent certain groups from advancing—is a metaphorical extension that a B1 learner who only knows the literal words may not fully predict, making the expression only partly transparent.
Etymology
The idiom break the glass ceiling comes from the image of a clear, hard roof above workers: glass and ceiling suggest an invisible barrier and break is to smash it. So break the glass ceiling means 'to get past an invisible barrier' that keeps women or minorities from reaching higher jobs.