a severe and conclusive test to establish quality, genuineness, worth, etc.
Origin
1890-95
Examples from the web for acid test
The acid test of evolution is the emergence of new species from old.
Only if the supplier clears this acid test, they proceed further.
The groups should have an acid test expert, a streak test expert, and a hardness test expert.
British Dictionary definitions for acid test
acid test
noun
1.
a rigorous and conclusive test to establish worth or value: the play passed the critic's acid test
Word Origin
C19: from the testing of gold with nitric acid
Slang definitions & phrases for acid test
acid test
noun phrase
A party at which LSD is added to food and drink
verb phrase
To provide special effects at a party, usually of a psychedelic sort: He acid-tested his place with colored strobe lights
[Narcotics; punning adaptation of ''a final and decisive test'']
Idioms and Phrases with acid test
acid test
A decisive trial to determine worth or quality, as in Exposure to brilliant sunlight is the acid test for showing this fabric won't fade. Alluding to a 19th-century chemical test for distinguishing gold from other metals, this term was used figuratively by the early 1900s.