| 1. | the moment in a bullfight at which the matador is about to make the kill. |
| 2. | the moment at which one's character, courage, skill, etc., is put to an extreme test; critical moment. |
| moment of truth n. pl. moments of truth
[Translation of Spanish el momento de verdad.] |
moment of truth
A critical or decisive time, at which one is put to the ultimate test, as in Now that all the bills are in, we've come to the moment of truth
can we afford to live here or not? This expression, a translation of the Spanish el momento de la verdad, signifies the point in a bullfight when the matador makes the kill. It was first used in English in Ernest Hemingway's story Death in the Afternoon (1932).
