jewel in the crown
2
4.9
- idiom
- Informal
:
joya de la corona
- Well, we still have the jewel in the crown.
Examples
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Many curriculum builders select history as the jewel in the crown of social studies and citizenship education.
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The Grand Prix de Monaco Historique is widely regarded as the jewel in the crown of historic racing.
Blog text (23) -
Metro City, the jewel in the crown.
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This long line of productive research has become the jewel in the crown of drug abuse research over the past three and a half decades.
Academic text (2009) -
Many curriculum builders select history as the "jewel in the crown" of social studies and citizenship education.
Academic text (1990) -
He knew his country had fought tooth and nail to keep Cuba the last jewel in the crown of the Spanish empire.
Fiction book (1996) -
The Grand Prix de Monaco Historique is widely regarded as the jewel in the crown of historic racing.
-
The arboretum's 70 rolling acres are the jewel in the crown of Golden Gate Park.
Synonyms
9
4.7
The most valuable part of a business, like a product or division
1
5.0
The most valuable things a company or group owns that must be protected
1
5.5
An item in a collection that people value most
A person or thing of the very highest quality
How Important
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituents 'jewel' (a valuable gem) and 'crown' (a symbol of highest status or the top) combine to create a fairly recognizable metaphor: a prized or standout element within a collection. However, the meaning relies on a conventionalized metaphorical image (a gem in a crown as the most valued part), so while partially inferable, it is not fully compositional for a B1 learner without some cultural or contextual familiarity.
Etymology
The phrase jewel in the crown may come from the image of a crown where one bright jewel is the best part of the crown. That's why the phrase is used to mean 'the most valuable or impressive part' of something.