jewel
1 Americannoun
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a cut and polished precious stone; gem.
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a fashioned ornament for personal adornment, especially of a precious metal set with gems.
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a precious possession.
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a person or thing that is treasured, esteemed, or indispensable.
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a durable bearing used in fine timepieces and other delicate instruments, made of natural or synthetic precious stone or other very hard material.
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an ornamental boss of glass, sometimes cut with facets, in stained-glass work.
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something resembling a jewel in appearance, ornamental effect, or the like, as a star.
verb (used with object)
noun
noun
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a precious or semiprecious stone; gem
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a person or thing resembling a jewel in preciousness, brilliance, etc
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a gemstone, often synthetically produced, used as a bearing in a watch
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a piece of jewellery
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an ornamental glass boss, sometimes faceted, used in stained glasswork
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the most valuable, esteemed, or successful person or thing of a number
who will be the jewel in the crown of English soccer?
verb
Other Word Forms
- jewel-like adjective
- jewelled adjective
- jewellike adjective
- unjeweled adjective
- unjewelled adjective
Etymology
Origin of jewel
1250–1300; Middle English jouel juel < Anglo-French jeul, Old French jouel, joel < Vulgar Latin *jocāle plaything, noun use of neuter of *jocālis (adj.) of play, equivalent to Latin joc ( us ) joke + -ālis -al 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Many in the food world know Gray for his tenure as executive chef at Momofuku Ko, David Chang’s crown jewel, for over a decade.
“My Opal is the jewel of The Mountain. She will marry well.”
From Literature
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On Tuesday, des Cars sent her resignation to President Emmanuel Macron, which was accepted, following a string of scandals including the brazen theft of French crown jewels valued at $100 million in October.
From Barron's
The director of the Louvre museum in Paris has resigned, months after the high-profile theft of France's crown jewels from one of the world's most visited art galleries.
From BBC
Discovery said Tuesday that it was “reviewing” a revised offer from Paramount Skydance — the latest twist in the high-profile auction to claim one of Hollywood’s corporate jewels.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.