Definition of "lodestar" []

• A star, especially Polaris, that is used as a point of reference. (noun)
• A guiding principle, interest, or ambition. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "North Korean state media had used the term "lodestar" in reference to Kim Jong Il, as well as for the name of long-range rockets the country tested in 1998 and 2009, the NYT reports."
• "Remember our nation's lodestar is a better future."
• "His theological lodestar is Augustine, not Thomas Aquinas."