Meaning of litmus test | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A simple, binary test for the acidity or alkalinity of a substance, using litmus paper.
2. Any test which produces a binary, decisive result (for example, determining whether to appoint someone to a job) by measuring a single indicator.
   broadly, figuratively

Equivalents

Examples

“Exams, not interviews, have⟳ become⟳ the litmus test⟳ for entry to university.”

“Temple, under its new coach, Ray Morrison, formerly of Vanderbilt, will be put⟳ to the blue litmus test⟳ Friday night when it takes on Georgetown.”

“For good reasons or bad, early membership of the currency union has become⟳ the litmus test⟳ of being a "good European."”

“He opposes a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage—a litmus test⟳ for many social conservatives”

“For years, quoting lines from “Manhattan” or another film by Mr. Allen on a date⟳ could be a romantic litmus test⟳, a way to find⟳ out if a potential partner also loved E. E. Cummings, Paris, 1930s jazz and the sophisticated, cultured world the films often came to represent⟳.”

“"[…] I don't know⟳ National Rail numbers, but I do know⟳ that after the pandemic I used to go round a lot of the London stations, and they had far more locations shut⟳ than I did at St Pancras. That was very much my litmus test⟳."”

CEFR level