family jewels

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌfæ.m(ɪ.)li ˈd͡ʒuː(ə)lz/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fam‧i‧ly jew‧els

Noun

family jewels pl (plural only)

1. (idiomatic, euphemistic) The testicles.

   Synonyms: crown jewels, diamonds

   The whole crowd cringed as he got hit right in the family jewels.

   • 1971 July 5, R. Z. Sheppard, “Three's a Crowd”, in Time:

     But what do three testicles mean? A mystical trinity illuminating some absurd need to procreate? A symbol suggesting a metaphysic of pawnbroking? Likely as not, it is simply an animation of the familiar euphemism, "the family jewels."

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see family,‎ jewels.

Translations

testicles

• Finnish: perhekalleudet (fi)
• French: bijoux de famille (fr) m pl
• Galician: facenda (gl) f
• Italian: gioielli di famiglia m pl
• Polish: klejnoty (pl) f pl, klejnoty rodowe (pl) f pl

See also

• Family Jewels (Central Intelligence Agency): a set of reports on the CIA's illegal activities.