glo⋅ry
[glawr-ee, glohr-ee]
noun, plural -ries, adjective, verb, -ried, -ry⋅ing, interjection | 1. | very great praise, honor, or distinction bestowed by common consent; renown: to win glory on the field of battle. |
| 2. | something that is a source of honor, fame, or admiration; a distinguished ornament or an object of pride: a sonnet that is one of the glories of English poetry. |
| 3. | adoring praise or worshipful thanksgiving: Give glory to God. |
| 4. | resplendent beauty or magnificence: the glory of autumn. |
| 5. | a state of great splendor, magnificence, or prosperity. |
| 6. | a state of absolute happiness, gratification, contentment, etc.: She was in her glory when her horse won the Derby. |
| 7. | the splendor and bliss of heaven; heaven. |
| 8. | a ring, circle, or surrounding radiance of light represented about the head or the whole figure of a sacred person, as Christ or a saint; a halo, nimbus, or aureole. |
| 9. | anticorona. |
| 10. | to exult with triumph; rejoice proudly (usually fol. by in): Their father gloried in their success. |
| 11. | Obsolete. to boast. |
| 12. | Also, glory be. Glory be to God (used to express surprise, elation, wonder, etc.). |
| 13. | glory days or years, the time of greatest achievement, popularity, success, or the like: the glory days of radio. |
| 14. | go to glory, to die. Also, go to one's glory. |
1300–50; ME < OF glorie < L glōria

Related forms:
1. fame, eminence, celebrity. 4. brilliance, refulgence, effulgence.
1. disgrace, obloquy.
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Glory
Glo"ry\, n. [OE. glorie, OF. glorie, gloire, F. gloire, fr. L. gloria; prob. akin to Gr. ?, Skr. ?ravas glory, praise, ?ru to hear. See Loud.]1. Praise, honor, admiration, or distinction, accorded by common consent to a person or thing; high reputation; honorable fame; renown. Glory to God in the highest. --Luke ii. 14. Spread his glory through all countries wide. --Spenser. 2. That quality in a person or thing which secures general praise or honor; that which brings or gives renown; an object of pride or boast; the occasion of praise; excellency; brilliancy; splendor. Think it no glory to swell in tyranny. --Sir P. Sidney. Jewels lose their glory if neglected. --Shak. Your sex's glory 't is to shine unknown. --Young. 3. Pride; boastfulness; arrogance. In glory of thy fortunes. --Chapman. 4. The presence of the Divine Being; the manifestations of the divine nature and favor to the blessed in heaven; celestial honor; heaven. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. --Ps. lxxiii. 24. 5. An emanation of light supposed to proceed from beings of peculiar sanctity. It is represented in art by rays of gold, or the like, proceeding from the head or body, or by a disk, or a mere line. Note: This is the general term; when confined to the head it is properly called nimbus; when encircling the whole body, aureola or aureole. Glory hole, an opening in the wall of a glass furnace, exposing the brilliant white light of the interior. --Knight. Glory pea (Bot.), the name of two leguminous plants (Clianthus Dampieri and C. puniceus) of Australia and New Zeland. They have showy scarlet or crimson flowers. Glory tree (Bot.), a name given to several species of the verbenaceous genus Clerodendron, showy flowering shrubs of tropical regions.Glory
Glo"ry\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gloried; p. pr. & vb. n. Glorying.] [OE. glorien, OF. glorier, fr. L. gloriari, fr. gloria glory. See Glory, n.]1. To exult with joy; to rejoice. Glory ye in his holy name. --Ps. cv.? 2. To boast; to be proud. God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. --Gal. vi. 14 No one . . . should glory in his prosperity. --Richardson.Cite This Source
glory
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Glory
(Heb. kabhod; Gr. doxa). (1.) Abundance, wealth, treasure, and hence honour (Ps. 49:12); glory (Gen. 31:1; Matt. 4:8; Rev. 21:24, 26). (2.) Honour, dignity (1 Kings 3:13; Heb. 2:7 1 Pet. 1:24); of God (Ps. 19:1; 29:1); of the mind or heart (Gen. 49:6; Ps. 7:5; Acts 2:46). (3.) Splendour, brightness, majesty (Gen. 45:13; Isa. 4:5; Acts 22:11; 2 Cor. 3:7); of Jehovah (Isa. 59:19; 60:1; 2 Thess. 1:9). (4.) The glorious moral attributes, the infinite perfections of God (Isa. 40:5; Acts 7:2; Rom. 1:23; 9:23; Eph. 1:12). Jesus is the "brightness of the Father's glory" (Heb. 1:3; John 1:14; 2:11). (5.) The bliss of heaven (Rom. 2:7, 10; 5:2; 8:18; Heb. 2:10; 1 Pet. 5:1, 10). (6.) The phrase "Give glory to God" (Josh. 7:19; Jer. 13:16) is a Hebrew idiom meaning, "Confess your sins." The words of the Jews to the blind man, "Give God the praise" (John 9:24), are an adjuration to confess. They are equivalent to, "Confess that you are an impostor," "Give God the glory by speaking the truth;" for they denied that a miracle had been wrought.
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glory
see in one's glory.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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glory
the apparently enormously magnified shadow of an observer cast, when the Sun is low, upon the upper surfaces of clouds that are below the mountain upon which he stands. The apparent magnification of size of the shadow is an optical illusion that occurs when the observer judges his shadow on relatively nearby clouds to be at the same distance as faraway land objects seen through gaps in the clouds. The phenomenon is often observed on mountain peaks but is recorded in literature with special reference to the Brocken, a peak in the Harz Mountains in Germany where the Brocken bow sometimes produces spectacular effects. The observer's shadow is often surrounded by coloured bands or rings that are the result of the diffraction of sunlight by water droplets in the cloud. The phenomenon of rainbowlike bands around a shadow on a cloud is also commonly observed from airplanes flying in sunlight above a cloud layer
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