Definition

Noun: 1. A fortune-telling tool: A crystal ball is a transparent sphere, traditionally made of glass or rock crystal, used in the practice of scrying or crystal gazing to gain visions of the future or distant events. 2. A metaphor for prediction: The term is commonly used to represent any means or method of predicting future events, often with an implication of uncertainty or guesswork.

Usage and Examples

• Literal use (fortune-telling):
  • The fortune teller peered into her crystal ball and described a long journey.
  • He claimed the visions in the crystal ball revealed important secrets.
• Figurative use (prediction):
  • I don't have a crystal ball; I can't tell you what the stock market will do next year.
  • If I had a crystal ball, I would know which team will win the championship.

Advanced Usage

• "gaze into a crystal ball": To attempt to predict the future, either literally or figuratively.
  • Politicians are often asked to gaze into a crystal ball and predict the economic effects of a new policy.
• "in my crystal ball": Used humorously or sarcastically to indicate a prediction.
  • Let me look in my crystal ball... I predict you'll have a busy week.

Variants and Related Words

• Crystal gazing (n): The practice of looking into a crystal ball to see visions.
  • Crystal gazing is an ancient form of divination.

Synonyms

• Orb (when referring specifically to the spherical object).
• Divination tool / Scrying glass (for the literal function).
• Prophecy / Forecast (for the figurative meaning of prediction).

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "(Someone's) crystal ball is cloudy": Used to say that a prediction is uncertain or that no one can know the future.
  • My crystal ball is cloudy on that issue; the outcome is too hard to guess.
• "Need a crystal ball": Expresses that predicting something is impossible without magical insight.
  • You'd need a crystal ball to figure out what he's going to do next.

Noun

1. a glass or crystal globe used in crystal gazing by fortunetellers