Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A test for chemical acidity or basicity using litmus paper.
- noun A test that uses a single indicator to prompt a decision.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- (Chem.) A test to determine acidity or alkalinity, using litmus as an inddicator.
- (Politics) A test for a single factor, which has only two outcomes, positive or negative
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun chemistry A simple test for the
acidity oralkalinity of a substance, usinglitmus paper . - noun figuratively, by extension Any test which produces a
decisive result by measuring a singleindicator .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a coloring material (obtained from lichens) that turns red in acid solutions and blue in alkaline solutions; used as a very rough acid-base indicator
- noun a test that relies on a single indicator
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From litmus + test.
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Examples
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johnmperry commented on the word litmus test
My Chemistry master at school had a little poem:
Blue to red, a-sed
Red to blue, alkalu
September 27, 2008
jwjarvis commented on the word litmus test
It is a mistake to use a person’s political beliefs as the litmus test of his compassion.
December 22, 2010