\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.
{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.