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# holy

«holy» in Mova's school dictionary: **connected with God or a religion, and treated with deep…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (holy, holier, holiest)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Holy means special because it is connected with God or a religion, and treated with deep respect. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holy/#m1)

2) Holy describes a person who is very religious and good. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holy/#m2)

3) (informal) "Holy cow!" or "Holy moly!" are cries of surprise. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holy/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In religious education: holy books (the Bible, the Qur'an, the Torah), holy places, holy days. In comics and everyday speech: mild exclamations of surprise. Phrases: holy book, holy water, holy place, Holy cow, Holy moly.

### examples

- The Qur'an is the holy book of Islam. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holy/#x1)
- Jerusalem is a holy city for many religions. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holy/#x2)
- The priest sprinkled holy water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holy/#x3)
- Holy cow, that wave is huge! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holy/#x4)
- The monk lived a holy life. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holy/#x5)
- Many people visit holy places on pilgrimages. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holy/#x6)
- "You have killed the holy woman!" [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holy/#x7)

### note

Homophone trap: holy (religious) sounds like "wholly" (completely) and almost like "holey" (full of holes). Holiday comes from "holy day". Exclamations like "Holy cow!" are informal.

### In the corpora

- [The Rat whispers: «Here, in this holy place, here if anywhere, surely we shall find Him!»](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/50-willows-ch7-part2-the-piper/20/)
- ["Holy cow!" is an American cry of surprise used instead of a ruder oath.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/38-drat-and-the-f-word/13/)
- ["Holy moly!" is a jokey cry of surprise used instead of a ruder oath.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/38-drat-and-the-f-word/14/)
- [Christians remember the Last Supper in Holy Communion.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/18-the-last-supper-and-the-crucifixion/11/)
- [Christians believe the Holy Spirit grows good character in people, like fruit on a tree.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/20-paul-his-letters-and-the-way-of-love/21/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «holy» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/holy/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.