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definitions

prayer wheel

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

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 of prayer wheel

  • 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
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.

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.