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prayer wheel

[prair]
noun
  1. a wheel or cylinder inscribed with or containing prayers, used chiefly by Buddhists of Tibet.
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Origin of prayer wheel

First recorded in 1805–15
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for prayer wheel

Historical Examples

  • That fellow has a Joss in his cabin, and very likely a prayer-wheel; but he's a capital cook.

    In the High Valley

    Susan Coolidge

  • He may have thought it was a species of Christian prayer-wheel.

    To Lhassa at Last

    Powell Millington

  • The soldier during the performance revolved his prayer-wheel with his free hand, praying fervently all the while.

    In the Forbidden Land

    Arnold Henry Savage Landor

  • With his free hand the soldier during the performance revolved his prayer-wheel, praying fervently all the while.

    An Explorer's Adventures in Tibet

    A. Henry Savage Landor

  • I invaded the sanctuary and demanded the ancient tomes and magic tables, also the prayer-wheel—the sextant, I mean.

British Dictionary definitions for prayer wheel

prayer wheel

noun
  1. Buddhism (esp in Tibet) a wheel or cylinder inscribed with or containing prayers, each revolution of which is counted as an uttered prayer, so that such prayers can be repeated by turning it
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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
prayer wheel in Culture

prayer wheel

In Buddhism, a cylinder with prayers written on it. The prayer wheel is turned by some worshipers during prayer, or the turning may be used as a substitute for spoken prayers.

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.