GOLDEN

adj. 1 a made or consisting of gold (golden sovereign). b yielding gold. 2 coloured or shining like gold (golden hair). 3 precious; valuable; excellent; important (a golden memory; a golden opportunity). golden age 1 a supposed past age when people were happy and innocent. 2 the period of a nation's greatest prosperity, literary merit, etc. golden-ager US an old person. golden balls a pawnbroker's sign. golden boy (or girl) colloq. a popular or successful person. golden calf wealth as an object of worship (Exod. 32). golden chain the laburnum. golden delicious a variety of dessert apple. golden disc an award given to a performer after the sale of 500,000 copies of a record. golden eagle a large eagle, Aquila chrysaetos, with yellow-tipped head-feathers. golden-eye any marine duck of the genus Bucephala. Golden Fleece (in Greek mythology) a fleece of gold sought and won by Jason. golden goose a continuing source of wealth or profit. golden hamster a usu. tawny hamster, Mesocricetus auratus, kept as a pet or laboratory animal. golden handshake colloq. a payment given on redundancy or early retirement. golden hello colloq. a payment made by an employer to a keenly sought recruit. Golden Horde the Tartar horde that overran E. Europe in the 13th c. (from the richness of the leader's tent). Golden Horn the harbour of Istanbul. golden jubilee 1 the fiftieth anniversary of a sovereign's accession. 2 any other fiftieth anniversary. golden mean 1 the principle of moderation, as opposed to excess. 2 = golden section. golden number the number of a year in the Metonic lunar cycle, used to fix the date of Easter. golden oldie colloq. an old hit record or film etc. that is still well known and popular. golden opinions high regard. golden oriole a European oriole, Oriolus oriolus, of which the male has yellow and black plumage and the female has mainly green plumage. golden perch Austral. = CALLOP. golden retriever a retriever with a thick golden-coloured coat. golden rod any plant of the genus Solidago with a rodlike stem and a spike of small bright-yellow flowers. golden rule a basic principle of action, esp. 'do as you would be done by'. golden section the division of a line so that the whole is to the greater part as that part is to the smaller part. Golden State US California. golden syrup Brit. a pale treacle. golden wedding the fiftieth anniversary of a wedding. goldenly adv. goldenness n.