touchstone
Use Touchstone in a sentence
noun
1.
a test or criterion for the qualities of a thing.
2.
a black siliceous stone formerly used to test the purity of gold and silver by the color of the streak produced on it by rubbing it with either metal.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To touchstone
Collins
World English Dictionary
touchstone (ˈtʌtʃˌstəʊn) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a criterion or standard by which judgment is made |
| 2. | a hard dark siliceous stone, such as basalt or jasper, that is used to test the quality of gold and silver from the colour of the streak they produce on it |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Touchstone
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
Etymonline
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Cite This Source
Example sentences
The essay became a touchstone in the heyday of literary theory, reprinted in a slew of anthologies and cited copiously.
Touchstone texts are used to model the importance of adding details to writing.
Terrifically profitable, the phone became a cultural touchstone.
Humility is the touchstone which discovers the devil's artifices, in all which a spirit of pride reigns.
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