crown jewels
Britishplural noun
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A prized possession or asset, as in The Iliad and Odyssey are the crown jewels of ancient literature , or The software products are the company's crown jewels . This usage transfers the value of royal jewels to some other object. [Late 1800s]
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Also, family jewels . The male genitals, especially the testicles. For example, She gave the would-be mugger a hard kick in the family jewels . A slang euphemism, the term dates from the 1970s, and the variant from the early 1900s.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In 2015, Rao weighed offers from Uber and Airbnb, then two of Silicon Valley’s crown jewels.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
Housed in the Tower of London, the massive 106 carat stone is the star of Britain's crown jewels, adorning the Crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.
From Barron's • Apr. 30, 2026
The director of the Louvre museum in Paris has resigned, months after the high-profile theft of France's crown jewels from one of the world's most visited art galleries.
From BBC • Feb. 24, 2026
Paramount is the only major studio to be physically located in Hollywood and its studio lot is one of the company’s crown jewels.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 27, 2026
Where the crown jewels get dropped down sewers and flushed down toilets.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
