fairy dust

English

Based on the story of the fictional character Peter Pan, see quotations.

fairy dust (uncountable)

(fiction) A magical powder that would give the power of flight to whoever it was sprinkled on.
Synonym: pixie dust
- 1911, J[ames] M[atthew] Barrie, “Come away, Come away!”, in Peter and Wendy, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 54:
  Of course Peter had been trifling with them, for no one can fly unless the fairy dust has been blown on him.
(by extension) Any apparently magical ingredient or effect; a panacea.
- 2011 May 19, Megan McArdle, quoting Matt Yglesias, “When Should Governments Contract Out?”, in James Bennet, editor, The Atlantic‎^[1], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC:
  It's not that some magic private sector fairy dust makes the firms all be runs^[sic] soundly. Lots of bad businesses are out there. But they tend to lose money and close.
  (Can we archive this URL?)
(slang) The drug phencyclidine.
Synonym: angel dust
- 2001, Simon Logan, I-O, Prime, →ISBN, page 102:
  This led to a certain amount of complacency on my part and certainly the fairy dust and mescaline cocktails I took day and night could only have contributed to my uncommonly satiated drive for a good fuck.

magical powder

any apparently magical ingredient or effect