Figuratively, the “philosopher's stone” is a substance thought to be capable of regenerating man spiritually.
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
You can hear traces of Darkside in the other’s respective solo projects, but their fusion operates like a philosophers’ stone.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 22, 2021
Each is embellished with vibrant figures and verses, which set out the process for making the philosophers’ stone and the elixir of life.
From Nature ● Apr. 28, 2020
Thanks to his special brand of financial alchemy, he appears to have discovered a modern-day philosophers' stone, not for turning base metal to gold but for turning risk into reward.
From Time Magazine Archive
The job-hopping Nicolas in The House of the Spirits doubles for One Hundred Years' mad inventor, Jose Arcadio Buendia, who strives to manufacture the philosophers' stone and photograph God.
From Time Magazine Archive
It was a little late to search for the philosophers’ stone in 1669, yet it was in such a search that phosphorus was discovered.
From History of Phosphorus by Farber, Eduard
The unsuccessful glassblower and alchemist Hennig Brandt was trying to find the philosopher’s stone, a mythical substance that could turn base metals into gold.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 27, 2019
But for the denizens of Silicon Beach, aircraft represent the ultimate hack — a philosopher’s stone that makes rest out of work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2019
Sleep experts broadcast their advice and opinions as if some new philosopher’s stone has been found, and sleep books now grace both bestseller lists and bedside tables.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 9, 2019
Stones played a key role in alchemy: the philosopher’s stone, the Chintamani.
From Slate ● May 29, 2018
For the alchemists, the reality of the philosopher’s stone was beyond question; within a generation their appeal to authority, to ancient texts and secret manuscripts, seemed hopelessly misplaced.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
