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
“The children especially have faced difficulties, lack of education, and disconnection from society for five years,” he explained, sitting in a room with other tribesmen with a set of prayer beads in one hand.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 29, 2022
Irna published photographs showing broken glass, prayer beads and blood on the floor of the mausoleum.
From BBC • Oct. 26, 2022
Nuah is looking at me laughing, his head tilted in that odd way of his, the wooden prayer beads hanging around his neck askew.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
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.
