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touchstone Definition

touch·stone (tuc̸h′stōn′)

noun

  1. a type of black stone formerly used to test the purity of gold or silver by the streak left on it when it was rubbed with the metal
  2. any test of genuineness or value
touchstone Synonyms

touchstone

n.

standard, test, criterion; see proof 1.

touchstone Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • truth: Doubt is the touchstone of truth, it is the acid which eats away the false.
  • interest: The concept of ' intolerability as the touchstone of best interests ' requires clarification.
  • orthodoxy: A confession which has been the touchstone of orthodoxy for fifteen centuries cannot lightly be ignored or abandoned.
  • reality: The expressive theory of art had assumed the author's individual experiences were the touchstone of reality ( 10 ).
  • complexion: Thomas Newton, The touchstone of complexions ( 1576 ), f. 22.
  • culture: Arts Council England regards children's literature as the touchstone of a healthy literary culture.

Converse of object

  • become: The rhetoric of welfare has thus become the touchstone of almost all areas of the law dealing with children.
  • remain: Richards derived much of his early style from Chuck Berry, whose guitar work remained a touchstone for Richards throughout his career.
  • provide: His message was clear: he wanted me to provide the fannish touchstone for the issue.
  • have: People who no longer have the touchstone of an open church have their faith privatized, however strong it is.

Preposition: for

  • generation: Her book ' The Second Sex ' ( 1949 ) was to become a touchstone for the next generation of ' liberated women ' .
  • opinion: Direct selling is a touchstone for public opinion about energy companies and these figures will do nothing to rescue some tattered reputations.
  • activism: It will act as a touchstone for all future shareholder activism and campaigning.

Adjective modifier

  • useful: He provides an ongoing contact within the area and a useful touchstone for local issues.
  • important: The metaphor of the park, or more generally of landscape, is an important touchstone here.
  • only: Her songs have already stood the test of time, which is after all the only real touchstone of vitality.
  • essential: Cash's Sun legacy is a perennial, essential touchstone, and that legacy is represented to perfection here.
  • absolute: This is the absolute touchstone: all genuine UK universities have them and any other address is bogus.

Modifies a noun

  • issue: He has to find a touchstone issue which can be changed to show how the Tories really have bought into the Cameron project.
touchstone Quotes

The true spirit of delight, the exaltation, the sense of being more than man, which is the touchstone of the highest excellence, is to be found in mathematics as surely as in poetry.

—Russell, Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl