Meanings
- figurativelyThe ultimate breakthrough or achievement in any challenging field, symbolizing an elusive, transformative solution to a seemingly insurmountable problem, a Holy Grail.
1 more example
But if it's a start-up and it doesn't have any revenue, then the value equals P x S [solution] x E [entrepreneurial team], where the P is the magnitude of the problem that the company is going to solve. If it's a cure for cancer, that's huge. If it is a better improvement on a baby diaper, that's not so exciting.
2011, Tarang Shah, Shital Shah, quoting Jim Boettcher, Venture Capitalists at Work: How VCs Identify and Build Billion-Dollar Successes, Apress, →ISBN, page 383
Origin
From the value such a hypothetical cure would entail, since cancer is responsible for the deaths of about ten million people annually.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cure for cancer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cure%20for%20cancer
“cure for cancer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cure%20for%20cancer. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cure for cancer,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cure%20for%20cancer.
Source: cure for cancer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.