acid test
noun
a severe and conclusive test to establish quality, genuineness, worth, etc.
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Nearby words
acid rock, acid salt, acid soil, acid stain, acid sulfate, acid test, acid test ratio, acid tide, acid trip, acid washing, acid-ash diet
Origin of acid test
First recorded in 1890–95
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for acid test
They are the acid-test, by which the presence of empire may be determined.
The American Empire|Scott Nearing
British Dictionary definitions for acid test
acid test
noun
a rigorous and conclusive test to establish worth or valuethe play passed the critic's acid test
Word Origin for acid test
C19: from the testing of gold with nitric acid
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Idioms and Phrases with acid test
acid test
A decisive trial to determine worth or quality, as in Exposure to brilliant sunlight is the acid test for showing this fabric won't fade. Alluding to a 19th-century chemical test for distinguishing gold from other metals, this term was used figuratively by the early 1900s.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.