aha moment

• aha! moment

From aha +‎ moment.

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aha moment (plural aha moments)

1. (idiomatic) The moment or instant at which the solution to a problem or other significant realization becomes clear.
   • 1994 Jan. 30, Peter Rainer, "Spielberg backlash strikes ‘Schindler’," Toledo Blade (USA), p. E2 (retrieved 15 Aug 2012):

     We are never made to understand why Oskar Schindler, the Nazi war profiteer, risked his life to save more than 1,200 Jews; there is no defining Aha! moment that accounts for his heroism.

   • 2007 March 8, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, "The Zeal For the Job," Time:

     Her aha moment came in 2003: "This, I realized, was my passion."

   • 2009 May 28, Miguel Helft, "Microsoft’s Search for a Name Ends With a Bing," New York Times (retrieved 15 Aug 2012):

     Microsoft’s marketing gurus hope that Bing will evoke . . . a sound — the ringing of a bell that signals the “aha” moment when a search leads to an answer.

• epiphany

• aha experience
• eureka

• Mahometan, Mohametan