brass ring

noun

Informal.

1. wealth, success, or a prestigious position considered as a goal or prize.

   Few of those who reach for the brass ring of the Presidency achieve it.

2. the opportunity to try for such a prize.

Word History and Origins

Origin of brass ring¹

From the practice of picking a ring from a box while riding a merry-go-round: whoever selected a brass ring received a free ride

Idioms and Phrases

A chance to achieve wealth or success; a prize or reward. For example, “As a businessman he let the brass ring go by too many times. And it got him.” This quotation from the Boston Globe (July 31, 1995) refers to an executive who was forced to resign. The term comes from the practice of giving a free ride to the person who succeeded in picking a ring out of a box while riding a merry-go-round. [Slang; late 1800s]

Example Sentences

There is still a lot of opportunity in our country but the high cost of living and the wealth gap makes it more difficult to reach for the brass ring.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It’s about her needing to have that brass ring no matter what.

Read more on Salon

The brass ring is a trillion-dollar company with a global user base.

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“The gears of capitalism are such that it’s unlikely. There are too many brass rings here in the music world, and when push comes to shove, people just deal with it.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

That’s a fundamental concern of sculpture in every artistic age and culture — its brass ring, if you will — and here it does yeoman’s work in energizing spaces both actual and illusionistic.

Read more on Los Angeles Times