Word.ws English Dictionary

litmus test

litmus test noun: a simple, binary test for the acidity or alkalinity of a substance, using litmus paper.

Noun

litmus test (plural litmus tests)

  1. A simple, binary test for the acidity or alkalinity of a substance, using litmus paper.
  2. (broadly, figuratively) Any test which produces a binary, decisive result (for example, determining whether to appoint someone to a job) by measuring a single indicator.
    • 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.1940 October 2, Allison Danzig, “Leading Elevens Face Stern Threats in Saturday's Games”, in New York Times, page 27

litmus test meaning in Tamil

litmus test in Tamil

லிட்மஸ் சோதனை

Examples of litmus test in a sentence

  • For good reasons or bad, early membership of the currency union has become the litmus test of being a "good European."1998 February 16, “Baby-Boomer Bonding”, in Newsweek:
  • He opposes a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage—a litmus test for many social conservatives2004 November 15, Matthew Cooper, “Candidates In the Wings”, in Time, archived from the original on 20 Feb 2013:
  • Allen on a date could be a romantic litmus test, a way to find out if a potential partner also loved E.2018 March 1, Steven Kurutz, quoting Lisa Schwarzbaum, “How Do You Solve a Problem Like ‘Manhattan’?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Forms of litmus test

plurallitmus tests

Origin of litmus test

From litmus + test.

Questions about litmus test

What does litmus test mean?
Litmus test means a simple, binary test for the acidity or alkalinity of a substance, using litmus paper.
What is litmus test in Tamil?
Litmus test in Tamil is லிட்மஸ் சோதனை. See Litmus test meaning in Tamil.
How do you use litmus test in a sentence?
For good reasons or bad, early membership of the currency union has become the litmus test of being a "good European."
What part of speech is litmus test?
Litmus test is a noun.
What is the plural of litmus test?
The plural of litmus test is litmus tests.

Words near litmus test in the dictionary

  1. litmus
  2. litmus milk
  3. litmus milks
  4. litmus paper
  5. litmus papers
  6. litmus test
  7. litmus tests
  8. litmuses
  9. litness
  10. litnessed
  11. litnesses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: litmus test (page history and authors); litmus test (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “litmus test.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/litmus_test. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.