Definition of "gold-standard" [gold-standard]

• Using gold alone as full legal tender

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "The Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law enacted last year enabled regulators to define a so-called gold-standard residential mortgage that would be exempt from costly new rules."
• "Regulators want to encourage a 20 percent down payments on some homes report Victoria McGrana and Nick Timiraos: The Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law enacted last year enabled regulators to define a so-called gold-standard residential mortgage that would be exempt from costly new rules."
• "The U.S.'s gold-standard credit ratings are the fixed point around which modern finance has charted its course, so naturally the clear prospect of a downgrade has fixated the entire investment world."