hero

- 10 dictionary results

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he⋅ro

[heer-oh]

–noun, plural -roes; for 5 also -ros.

1.	a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

2.	a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.

3.	the principal male character in a story, play, film, etc.

Classical Mythology.

a.	a being of godlike prowess and beneficence who often came to be honored as a divinity.

b.	(in the Homeric period) a warrior-chieftain of special strength, courage, or ability.

c.	(in later antiquity) an immortal being; demigod.

5.	hero sandwich.

6.	the bread or roll used in making a hero sandwich.

Origin:
1605–15; back formation from ME heroes (pl.) < L hērōs (sing.), hērōes (pl.) < Gk h

rōs, h

rōes

Related forms:

he⋅ro⋅like, adjective

Synonyms:
3. lead, star.

Antonyms:
3. villain, heavy.

He⋅ro

[heer-oh]

–noun

1.	Classical Mythology. a priestess of Aphrodite who drowned herself after her lover Leander drowned while swimming the Hellespont to visit her.

2.	Also, Heron. (Hero of Alexandria) fl. 1st century a.d., Greek scientist.

hero sandwich

–noun

a large sandwich, usually consisting of a small loaf of bread or long roll cut in half lengthwise and containing a variety of ingredients, as meat, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes.

Also called hero.

Origin:
1950–55, Americanism

Regional variation note:
The terms hero sandwich and hero, once largely associated with the New York City and Northern New Jersey area, are now too widely spread to warrant a specific regional label. This same sandwich is also called a submarine or a sub, esp. in the Northeastern and North Midland U.S., although this use has spread south along the Atlantic coast and as far west as Los Angeles. torpedo, though less common, has also spread to various regions.
The sandwich is called a grinder, chiefly in New England and the Inland North, though this use has spread to the South and West. Spuky is restricted to the Boston area, while wedge is a common synonym in Rhode Island and coastal Connecticut. Hoagy (or hoagie) is used chiefly in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, esp. Philadelphia, though it too has spread to other regions.
Poor boy is chiefly New Orleans use, originally referring to a somewhat different sandwich in which distinct sections of fillings represented the courses of a meal. Cuban sandwich, usually referring to a grilled sandwich with ham, pork, cheese, etc., is chiefly used in Southern Florida as well as the New York City area.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To hero

he·ro (hîr'ō)

n. pl. he·roes

In mythology and legend, a man, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits, and favored by the gods.
A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life: soldiers and nurses who were heroes in an unpopular war.
A person noted for special achievement in a particular field: the heroes of medicine. See Synonyms at celebrity.
The principal male character in a novel, poem, or dramatic presentation.
Chiefly New York City See submarine. See Regional Note at submarine.

[Earlier heroe, back-formation from heroes, heroes, from Latin hērōēs, pl. of hērōs, from Greek; see ser-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: Many writers now consider hero, long restricted to men in the sense "a person noted for courageous action," to be a gender-neutral term. It is used to refer to admired women as well as men in respected publications, as in this quotation from The Washington Post: "Already a national hero in her economically troubled South Korea, . . . [Se Ri] Pak is packing galleries at [golf] tournaments stateside." The word heroine is still useful, however, in referring to the principal female character of a fictional work: Jane Eyre is a well-known literary heroine. Ninety-four percent of Usage Panelists accept this usage.

He·ro¹ (hîr'ō)

n. Greek Mythology
A priestess of Aphrodite beloved by Leander.

He·ro² (hē'rō, hîr'ō)

Alexandrian scientist who invented many water-driven and steam-driven machines and devised a formula for determining the area of a triangle.

sub·ma·rine (sŭb'mə-rēn', sŭb'mə-rēn')

Nautical A vessel that is capable of operating submerged. Also called sub¹.
A large sandwich consisting of a long roll split lengthwise and filled with layers of meat, cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and condiments. Also called sub¹; also called regionally Cuban sandwich, grinder, hero, hoagie, Italian sandwich, poor boy, torpedo, wedge, zep.

adj.  Beneath the surface of the water; undersea.
v.   sub·ma·rined, sub·ma·rin·ing, sub·ma·rines

v.   tr.

To attack by submarine, especially with torpedoes.
Sports To knock down with a blow to the legs.
Baseball To pitch (a ball) with an underhand motion.

v. intr.
To slide, drive, or throw under something.
The long sandwich featuring layers of meat and cheese on a crusty Italian roll or French bread goes by a variety of names. These names are not distributed in a pattern similar to that of other regional words because their use depends on the business and marketing enterprise of the people who create the sandwiches and sell them. Submarine and sub are widespread terms, not assignable to any particular region. Many of the localized terms are clustered in the northeast United States, where the greatest numbers of Italian Americans live. In Maine, it is called an Italian sandwich, befitting its heritage. Elsewhere in New England and in Sacramento, California, it is often called a grinder. New York City knows it as a hero. In the Delaware Valley, including Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, the sandwich is called a hoagie. Speakers in Miami use the name Cuban sandwich. Along the Gulf Coast the same sandwich is often called a poor boy. In New Orleans, a poor boy is likely to be offered in a version featuring fried oysters.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Hero

He"ro\, n.; pl. Heroes. [F. h['e]ros, L. heros, Gr. ?.]

1. (Myth.) An illustrious man, supposed to be exalted, after death, to a place among the gods; a demigod, as Hercules.

2. A man of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger, or fortitude in suffering; a prominent or central personage in any remarkable action or event; hence, a great or illustrious person.

Each man is a hero and oracle to somebody. --Emerson.

3. The principal personage in a poem, story, and the like, or the person who has the principal share in the transactions related; as Achilles in the Iliad, Ulysses in the Odyssey, and [AE]neas in the [AE]neid.

The shining quality of an epic hero. --Dryden.

Hero worship, extravagant admiration for great men, likened to the ancient worship of heroes.

Hero worship exists, has existed, and will forever exist, universally among mankind. --Carlyle.

Language Translation for : hero

Spanish: héroe; heroína,

German: der Held,

Japanese: 英雄

More Translations »

hero

1387, "man of superhuman strength or courage," from L. heros "hero," from Gk. heros "demi-god" (a variant singular of which was heroe), originally "defender, protector," from PIE base *ser- "to watch over, protect" (cf. L. servare "to save, deliver, preserve, protect"). Sense of "chief male character in a play, story, etc." first recorded 1697. Fem. form heroine first attested 1659, from L. heroina, from Gk. heroine. First record of hero-worship is from 1774. Heroic verse (1617), decasyllabic iambic, is from It. Hero, the New York term for a sandwich elsewhere called submarine, grinder, poor boy (New Orleans), or hoagie (Philadelphia), is 1955, origin unknown, perhaps folk etymology of Gk. gyro, a type of sandwich.

Hero (hē'rō) Pronunciation Key
Greek mathematician who wrote on mechanics and invented many water-driven and steam-driven machines. He also developed a formula for determining the area of a triangle.

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