touchstone

touch·stone

noun \ˈtəch-ˌstōn\

Definition of TOUCHSTONE

1

: a black siliceous stone related to flint and formerly used to test the purity of gold and silver by the streak left on the stone when rubbed by the metal

2

: a test or criterion for determining the quality or genuineness of a thing

3

: a fundamental or quintessential part or feature : basis <a touchstone film of that decade> <now considered a touchstone of the city's life — Michael Specter>

Examples of TOUCHSTONE

1. Good service is one touchstone of a first-class restaurant.
2. <his book has long been a touchstone for travel writing that aspires to be literature>

First Known Use of TOUCHSTONE

1530

Related to TOUCHSTONE

Synonyms: bar, barometer, benchmark, criterion, gold standard, grade, mark, measure, metric, par, standard, yardstick

Related Words: case, example, instance; average, norm, rule; acme, apex, meridian, peak, pinnacle, summit, zenith

Near Antonyms: aberration, abnormality, deviation

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See Synonym Discussion at standard

Rhymes with TOUCHSTONE

agon, aitchbone, alone, atone, backbone, Bastogne, bemoan, Big Stone, birthstone, Blackstone, bloodstone, bluestone, bondstone, Boulogne, breastbone, bridge loan, brimstone, brownstone, call loan, calzone, Capone, capstone, cell phone, cheekbone, chinbone, cogon, cologne, Cologne, colon, colón, Colón, condone, copestone, corn pone, curbstone, cyclone, daimon, dapsone, debone, depone, dethrone, dial tone, disown, Dordogne, downzone, dripstone, drop zone, drystone, earphone, earth tone, end zone, enthrone, estrone, fieldstone, firestone, Firestone, flagstone, flowstone, flyblown, footstone, freestone, free zone, full-blown, gallstone, gemstone, Gijón, goldstone, gravestone, greenstone, grindstone, hailstone, halftone, handblown, hard stone, headphone, headstone, hearthstone, high-flown, hip bone, homegrown, hormone, hornstone, impone, ingrown, inkstone, in stone, intone, jawbone, jewel tone, keystone, León, leone, life zone, limestone, lodestone, long bone, Maidstone, milestone, millstone, moonstone, mudstone, nose cone, oilstone, orgone, ozone, pay phone, peptone, pinbone, pinecone, piñon, pipestone, postpone, potstone, propone, redbone, red zone, rhinestone, sandstone, shade-grown, shinbone, siltstone, snow cone, soapstone, splint bone, strike zone, T-bone, tailbone, thighbone, time zone, toadstone, tombstone, touch-tone, tritone, trombone, turnstone, twelve-tone, two-tone, Tyrone, unknown, unthrone, war zone, well-known, whalebone, wheel-thrown, whetstone, windblown, wishbone, Yangon

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