To achieve means to successfully reach a goal or accomplish something through effort and determination. When you achieve something, you've worked toward it and made it happen.

Achievement requires effort and action. If you want to achieve a high score on your spelling test, you study the words. If you want to achieve your goal of running a mile without stopping, you practice regularly. The word emphasizes the connection between effort and results: you achieve things by working for them.

You can achieve big goals (like achieving your dream of playing in a concert) or smaller ones (like achieving a clean bedroom before dinner). You can achieve success in school, achieve victory in a game, or achieve mastery of a difficult skill like playing the violin or coding a computer program.

An achievement (the noun form) is something you've successfully accomplished. Landing on the moon was an incredible achievement. Learning to ride a bike is a personal achievement. Some achievements take years, while others happen in an afternoon, but they all represent goals that someone worked toward and reached.