prayer beads
Americanplural noun
plural noun
Etymology
Origin of prayer beads
First recorded in 1620–30
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.
It paid homage to a nurse’s steady hands, to a mother’s prayer beads slipping through her fingers, and to a belief that our stories do not end at the point of collapse.
From Slate • Mar. 29, 2026
A teenager draws his slingshot, while fighters holding prayer beads take control of a Soviet tank, and peasants clutching pitchforks face Soviet soldiers.
From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026
"They were not just colleagues but friends", Munther says, nervously running prayer beads through his fingers.
From BBC • Apr. 2, 2025
She recalled him studying the Quran, often by candlelight at night and quizzing neighbors about its teachings, always clutching his white prayer beads.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 2, 2023
Olanna smiled gently and said nothing because she knew that this man, with his prayer beads dangling from his rearview mirror, needed to believe that.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
