TOUCHSTONE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does touchstone mean? 

• TOUCHSTONE (noun)
  The noun TOUCHSTONE has 1 sense:

1. a basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated

  Familiarity information: TOUCHSTONE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TOUCHSTONE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

criterion; measure; standard; touchstone

Context example:

they set the measure for all subsequent work

Hypernyms ("touchstone" is a kind of...):

metric; system of measurement (a system of related measures that facilitates the quantification of some particular characteristic)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "touchstone"):

benchmark (a standard by which something can be measured or judged)

earned run average; ERA ((baseball) a measure of a pitcher's effectiveness; calculated as the average number of earned runs allowed by the pitcher for every nine innings pitched)

GPA; grade point average (a measure of a student's academic achievement at a college or university; calculated by dividing the total number of grade points received by the total number attempted)

procrustean bed; procrustean rule; procrustean standard (a standard that is enforced uniformly without regard to individuality)

yardstick (a measure or standard used for comparison)

medium of exchange; monetary system (anything that is generally accepted as a standard of value and a measure of wealth in a particular country or region)

graduated table; ordered series; scale; scale of measurement (an ordered reference standard)

gauge; standard of measurement (accepted or approved instance or example of a quantity or quality against which others are judged or measured or compared)

baseline (an imaginary line or standard by which things are measured or compared)

norm (a standard or model or pattern regarded as typical)

 Context examples 

As a sort of touchstone, however, she began to speak of his kindness in conveying the aunt and niece; and though his answer was in the spirit of cutting the matter short, she believed it to indicate only his disinclination to dwell on any kindness of his own.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)