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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Holier

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 Hierochloa 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 grass 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.

    1. The Supreme Being; -- so called by way of emphasis. `` The Holy One of Israel.''
      --Is. xliii. 14.

    2. 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.)

      1. (Episcopal Ch.) Ascension day.

      2. (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.

        Holy water (Gr. & R. C. Churches), water which has been blessed by the priest for sacred purposes.

        Holy-water stoup, the stone stoup or font placed near the entrance of a church, as a receptacle for holy water.

        Holy Week (Eccl.), the week before Easter, in which the passion of our Savior is commemorated.

        Holy writ, the sacred Scriptures. `` Word of holy writ.''
        --Wordsworth.

Wiktionary
holier

a. 1 (en-comparative of: holy); more sacred. 2 (en-comparative of: holey); more full of holes.

WordNet
holier

See holy

holy
  1. adj. belonging to or derived from or associated with a divine power [ant: unholy]

  2. [also: holiest, holier]

holy
  1. n. a sacred place of pilgrimage [syn: holy place, sanctum]

  2. [also: holiest, holier]

Usage examples of "holier".

But another and holier treasure, You would now perchance disdain, Will come when your toil is over, And pay you for all your pain.

And yet--although thy task Is well and fairly done, Methinks for such as thou There is a holier one.

And the more devoutly that he listens, And the holier message that is sent, Still the more his soul must struggle vainly, Bowed beneath a noble discontent.

Having carried off as a mere boy the highest honours of the University, he had turned from the admiration which haunted his steps, and sought for a better and holier satisfaction in pastoral work in the country.

Where could a missionary, whether Protestant or Catholic, find a holier mission than that which sent him to comfort and instruct his countrymen in the wilderness?

If you cant understand my holier feelings, at least you know the bodily infirmities of the old.

She was just saying to get holier in a hurry, to put it on the fast track.

Yet as long as blood runs redly, yet as long as mental worth Is a nobler gift than fortune, is a holier thing than birth, I will claim the right to utter, to the high and to the low, That I love them, or I hate them, that I am a friend or foe.

There is no holier spot of ground Than where defeated valor lies, By mourning beauty crowned!

And where melodious falls did burst and shiver Among rocks clad with flowers, the foam and spray Sparkled like stars upon the sunny river, Or when the moonlight poured a holier day, One vast and glittering lake around green islands lay.

Which have been borne from childhood, but which now Would be a mockery to my holier plea.

He regarded his change of opinions as rather an act of will than conviction, and believed that in his inner heart he would be haunted by what Shelley considered the better and holier aspirations of his youth.

Tomorrow we will visit in Salamanca a holier shrine than the one you prayed at today.

It is wiser and better and holier to recognise and confess that there is no such thing as disease or pain or death.