brass ring

American  

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.

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brass ring Idioms  

1. 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]

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Etymology

Origin of brass ring

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

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.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

From Salon

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

From The Wall Street Journal

“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.”

From 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.

From Los Angeles Times