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holy water

American

noun

water blessed by a priest.

holy water British

noun

water that has been blessed by a priest for use in symbolic rituals of purification

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of holy water

before 900; Middle English haliwater, Old English hāligwæter

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A priest gave nonstop blessings, flinging holy water from a pink plastic bucket.

From Los Angeles Times

McAleese carries holy water and offers to pray with any one who seeks prayer.

From Los Angeles Times

Instead of shutting their doors and pouring some pre-Christian version of holy water around their houses to keep the spirits away, people would often do the exact opposite.

From Salon

"The most important thing I’ve got is a holy water sprinkler... The idea is that water is blessed and it’s then quite literally sprinkled around the house."

From BBC

Photographs released by the temple board showed priests sprinkling holy water in the kitchen, on sacks of ingredients and on huge trays of laddus.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023