litmus

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“
Frankly, you just don't know what is going to come out of his mouth. nugget from yesterday which Geraldo called his litmus test on voting.

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Definitions (6)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun A water-soluble blue powder derived from certain lichens that changes to red with increasing acidity and to blue with increasing basicity.

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Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (45)

  • In true litmus, the coloring matter results from the action of air and ammonia on orcin during the preparation of litmus from the lichens from which it is made. —  122 - The King of Terror
  • The tablet was a chemical test for lethal gas, functioning somewhat in the same fashion as the litmus-paper test used in detecting acids. —  082 - The Dagger In The Sky
  • Frankly, you just don't know what is going to come out of his mouth. nugget from yesterday which Geraldo called his litmus test on voting. —  The Jawa Report
  • If support for the income tax is used as a litmus, then Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush are not conservative either. —  Conservapedia - Recent changes [en]
  • That's not the same thing as saying that the RNC chair must be a litmus-test so-con, is it? —  RedState
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English litemose (of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse litmosi, dyer's herbs litr, color, dye + mosi, bog, moss) and Middle English lykemose (from Middle Dutch lijkmoes, variant of lēcmoes : lēken, to drip + moes, moss).

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. A corruption of lacmus, simulating dial, lit, dye: see lacmus.
 

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/ˈlɪtməs/
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