catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  Holy \Ho"ly\, a. [Compar. Holier; superl. Holiest.] [OE.
     holi, hali, AS. h[=a]lig, fr. h[ae]l health, salvation,
     happiness, fr. h[=a]l whole, well; akin to OS. h?lag, D. & G.
     heilig, OHG. heilac, Dan. hellig, Sw. helig, Icel. heilagr.
     See Whole, and cf. Halibut, Halidom, Hallow,
     Hollyhock.]
     1. Set apart to the service or worship of God; hallowed;
        sacred; reserved from profane or common use; holy vessels;
        a holy priesthood. ``Holy rites and solemn feasts.''
        --Milton.
  
     2. Spiritually whole or sound; of unimpaired innocence and
        virtue; free from sinful affections; pure in heart; godly;
        pious; irreproachable; guiltless; acceptable to God.
  
              Now through her round of holy thought The Church our
              annual steps has brought.             --Keble.
  
     Holy Alliance (Hist.), a league ostensibly for conserving
        religion, justice, and peace in Europe, but really for
        repressing popular tendencies toward constitutional
        government, entered into by Alexander I. of Russia,
        Francis I. of Austria, and Frederic William III. of
        Prussia, at Paris, on the 26th of September, 1815, and
        subsequently joined by all the sovereigns of Europe,
        except the pope and the king of England.
  
     Holy bark. See Cascara sagrada.
  
     Holy Communion. See Eucharist.
  
     Holy family (Art), a picture in which the infant Christ,
        his parents, and others of his family are represented.
  
     Holy Father, a title of the pope.
  
     Holy Ghost (Theol.),the third person of the Trinity; the
        Comforter; the Paraclete.
  
     Holy Grail. See Grail.
  
     Holy grass (Bot.), a sweet-scented grass ({Hierochloa
        borealis and H. alpina). In the north of Europe it was
        formerly strewed before church doors on saints' days;
        whence the name. It is common in the northern and western
        parts of the United States. Called also vanilla, or
        Seneca, grass.
  
     Holy Innocents' day, Childermas day.
  
     Holy Land, Palestine, the birthplace of Christianity.
  
     Holy office, the Inquisition.
  
     Holy of holies (Script.), the innermost apartment of the
        Jewish tabernacle or temple, where the ark was kept, and
        where no person entered, except the high priest once a
        year.
  
     Holy One.
        (a) The Supreme Being; -- so called by way of emphasis. ``
            The Holy One of Israel.'' --Is. xliii. 14.
        (b) One separated to the service of God.
  
     Holy orders. See Order.
  
     Holy rood, the cross or crucifix, particularly one placed,
        in churches. over the entrance to the chancel.
  
     Holy rope, a plant, the hemp agrimony.
  
     Holy Saturday (Eccl.), the Saturday immediately preceding
        the festival of Easter; the vigil of Easter.
  
     Holy Spirit, same as Holy Ghost (above).
  
     Holy Spirit plant. See Dove plant.
  
     Holy thistle (Bot.), the blessed thistle. See under
        Thistle.
  
     Holy Thursday. (Eccl.)
        (a) (Episcopal Ch.) Ascension day.
        (b) (R. C. Ch.) The Thursday in Holy Week; Maundy
            Thursday.
  
     Holy war, a crusade; an expedition carried on by Christians
        against the Saracens in the Holy Land, in the eleventh,
        twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, for the possession of
        the holy places.