<B>holy, </B>adjective, <B>-lier,</B> <B>-liest,</B> noun, pl. <B>-lies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>given or belonging to God; set apart for God's service; coming from God; sacred. <BR> <I>Ex. the Holy Bible, Holy Communion.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>declared sacred by religious use and authority; consecrated. <BR> <I>Ex. a holy day. Holy oil is used by some churches in baptism and other rites.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>dedicated or devoted to the service of God, the church, or religion. <BR> <I>Ex. a holy life.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>like a saint; spiritually perfect; very good; pure in heart. <BR> <I>Ex. a holy man. As He died to make men holy ... (Julia Ward Howe).</I> (SYN) devout, pious, pure, saintly, sinless. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) worthy of reverence. <BR> <I>Ex. The grave of the unknown soldier is a holy place.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) awesome; awful; terrible. <BR> <I>Ex. Those children are holy terrors.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a holy place; sanctuary. <DD><B> 2. </B>a holy thing. <DD><B> 3. </B>a holy person. </DL>
<A NAME="holybible">
<B>Holy Bible,</B> <B>=Bible.</B></DL>
<A NAME="holycity">
<B>Holy City,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a city considered sacred by the adherents of any religion. Jerusalem, Rome, and Mecca are Holy Cities. <DD><B> 2. </B>heaven. </DL>
<A NAME="holycommunion">
<B>Holy Communion,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a sharing in the Lord's Supper as a part of church worship; receiving of the Eucharist. <DD><B> 2. </B>the celebration of the Lord's Supper. </DL>
<A NAME="holycow">
<B>holy cow,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) an exclamation of surprise or astonishment. <BR> <I>Ex. "Holy cow!" he said. "That was expensive" (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="holycross">
<B>Holy Cross,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the cross on which Christ died. </DL>
<A NAME="holyday">
<B>holy day,</B> or <B>holyday, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a religious festival, especially one not occurring on Sunday. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are holy days. </DL>
<A NAME="holydayofobligation">
<B>holy day of obligation,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>any one of certain days on which Roman Catholics are required to abstain from servile work and to attend Mass. <DD><B> 2. </B>a day on which members of the Episcopal Church are required to take Communion. </DL>
<A NAME="holyfamily">
<B>Holy Family,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the name given in art to pictures of the Virgin Mary, the baby Jesus, and Joseph or others with them. </DL>
<A NAME="holyfather">
<B>Holy Father,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a title of the Pope. </DL>
<A NAME="holyghost">
<B>Holy Ghost,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the Spirit of God; third person of the Trinity; Holy Spirit. </DL>
<A NAME="holygrail">
<B>Holy Grail,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the Grail, the cup or dish supposed to have been used by Christ at the Last Supper and the great object of search by the knights of the Round Table. </DL>
<A NAME="holyinnocentsday">
<B>Holy Innocents' Day,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a Christian church festival in commemoration of the murder of the children of Bethlehem by Herod's order; Childermas. Matthew 2:16. <DD><B> 2. </B>December 28, the day this is celebrated. </DL>
<A NAME="holyjoe">
<B>Holy Joe,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a chaplain in the armed forces. <DD><B> 2. </B>any clergyman. <DD><B> 3. </B>an excessively pious or self-righteous person. </DL>
<B>holy mackerel,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) an exclamation of astonishment. <BR> <I>Ex. Holy mackerel, I couldn't recognize the landscape anymore (Curtis Cate).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="holyman">
<B>holy man,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a saint or mystic, especially in one of the religions of the Far East. </DL>
<A NAME="holyoffice">
<B>Holy Office,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the Papal congregation which has charge of protecting Catholic faith and morals. <DD><B> 2. </B>the Inquisition. </DL>
<A NAME="holyofholies">
<B>holy of holies,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the most sacred place. <DD><B> 2. </B>Also, <B>Holy of Holies.</B> the inner shrine in the Jewish tabernacle and temple, containing the Ark of the Covenant; sanctum sanctorum. </DL>
<A NAME="holyorders">
<B>holy orders,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the rite or sacrament of ordination. <DD><B> 2. </B>the rank or position of an ordained Christian minister or priest. <DD><B> 3. </B>the three higher ranks or positions in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. Bishops, priests, and deacons are members of holy orders. <BR><I>expr. <B>take holy orders,</B> </I>to become ordained as a Christian minister or priest. </DL>
<A NAME="holyroller">
<B>Holy Roller,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) (often used in an unfriendly way) a member of any one of various small religious sects whose revival meetings are often marked by the ecstatic seizure of participants. </DL>
<A NAME="holyromanempire">
<B>Holy Roman Empire,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an empire in western and central Europe regarded both as the continuation of the Roman Empire and as the temporal aspect of a universal dominion whose spiritual head was the Pope. It began in A.D. 962 with the coronation of Otto I, or, according to some, in A.D. 800 with the coronation of Charlemagne, and ended in 1806, when Francis II renounced the crown. </DL>
<A NAME="holyrood">
<B>Holy Rood,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the cross on which Jesus died. <DD><B> 2. </B>Also, <B>holy rood.</B> a representation of it. </DL>
<A NAME="holysaturday">
<B>Holy Saturday,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the Saturday before Easter. </DL>
<A NAME="holyscripture">
<B>Holy Scripture,</B> <B>=Bible.</B></DL>
<A NAME="holysee">
<B>Holy See,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the office or jurisdiction of the Pope; Apostolic See. <DD><B> 2. </B>the Pope's court. </DL>
<A NAME="holysepulcher">
<B>Holy Sepulcher,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the tomb at Jerusalem where the body of Christ is believed to have lain between His burial and the Resurrection. </DL>
<A NAME="holyspirit">
<B>Holy Spirit,</B> <B>=Holy Ghost.</B></DL>
<A NAME="holystone">
<B>holystone, </B>noun, verb, <B>-stoned,</B> <B>-stoning.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a piece of soft sandstone for scrubbing the wooden decks of ships. <DD><I>v.t., v.i. </I> to scrub or clean with a holystone. </DL>
<A NAME="holysynod">
<B>Holy Synod,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the church council that governs an Orthodox church. </DL>
<A NAME="holythursday">
<B>Holy Thursday,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(in the Roman Catholic Church) the Thursday before Easter; Maundy Thursday. <DD><B> 2. </B>(in the Anglican Church) the fortieth day after Easter; Ascension Day. </DL>
<A NAME="holytide">
<B>holytide, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a holy season. </DL>
<A NAME="holytrinity">
<B>Holy Trinity,</B> <B>=Trinity.</B></DL>
<A NAME="holywar">
<B>holy war,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a war fought for an allegedly holy purpose. <BR> <I>Ex. The Crusaders waged a holy war against the Moslems in the Middle Ages.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=jihad.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="holywater">
<B>holy water,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> water blessed by a priest. </DL>
<A NAME="holyweek">
<B>Holy Week,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the week before Easter. </DL>
<A NAME="holywrit">
<B>Holy Writ,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the Bible; Scriptures. </DL>
<A NAME="holyyear">
<B>Holy Year,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a year decreed by the Pope for special religious observances, beginning and ending on Christmas Eve. </DL>
<A NAME="hom">
<B>hom-,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) the form of <B>homo-</B> before vowels, as in <I>homorganic.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="homage">
<B>homage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>respect; reverence; honor. <BR> <I>Ex. Everyone paid homage to the great leader.</I> (SYN) deference. <DD><B> 2. </B>in the Middle Ages: <DD><B> a. </B>a formal acknowledgment by a vassal that he owed loyalty and service to his lord. <DD><B> b. </B>a thing done or given to show such acknowledgment. <DD><B> c. </B>the relation established between a vassal and his lord by such an acknowledgment. </DL>
<A NAME="homager">
<B>homager, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person who owes homage. </DL>
<B>hombre</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Southwestern U.S.) man. <DD><B> 2. </B>(U.S. Slang.) a robust fellow; he-man, especially a character in a Western. </DL>
<A NAME="homburg">
<B>Homburg</B> or <B>homburg, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a man's soft felt hat with a slightly rolled brim, and the crown dented lengthwise. </DL>
