touchstone
noun /ˈtʌtʃstəʊn/
/ˈtʌtʃstəʊn/
[usually singular] (formal)- touchstone (of/for something) something that provides a standard against which other things are compared and/or judged
- the touchstone for quality
Extra Examples- Grammar was regarded as the touchstone of all language performance.
- He has been a guiding beacon in my life and a touchstone of human integrity.
- She remained for them a touchstone of good sense.
- The nineteenth-century struggle to reconstitute Poland was a touchstone for liberals and socialists alike.
- The way medicines are sold has become one of the touchstone issues of modern capitalism.