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View synonyms for acid test

acid test

noun

  1. a severe and conclusive test to establish quality, genuineness, worth, etc.


acid test

noun

  1. a rigorous and conclusive test to establish worth or value

    the play passed the critic's acid test

“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


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Word History and Origins

Origin of acid test1

First recorded in 1890–95
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Word History and Origins

Origin of acid test1

C19: from the testing of gold with nitric acid
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Idioms and Phrases

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.
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Example Sentences

The acid test will come when Relativity attempts to reach orbit.

Their biggest advantage is they provide results in 20 minutes or less, opposed to the nucleic acid tests, where one goes to a clinic or hospital to get swabbed and then waits 24 hours or more for the results.

That represents a 40% drop on 2019 figures, and a new rule requires travelers to present a negative nucleic acid test upon arrival at their hometowns.

From Time

In his new book Acid Test, author Tom Shroder tells the story of Nick, a veteran haunted by PTSD.

“The issue we have now is the critical acid test for our relationship,” Faily said.

The debt ceiling vote will be something close to an acid test that this budget deal represents a cease fire in the budget wars.

It may be painful, but this is an acid test for Republicans.

It was an acid test of his sanity and he knew as he worked that his reasoning faculties at least had suffered no impairment.

It is the crystallizer of character, the acid test of friendship, the final seal set upon enmity.

The acid test is conducted as with milk (see Chapter II) except the starter must be rinsed out of the pipette with pure water.

The physical properties and acid test are closely correlated with the presence of the desired organisms.

Few Brick cheese-makers use an acid test or a starter but these precautions would improve the product of many factories.

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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.

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