hero

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For our grand men--and though to be called a hero is the last thing most Australians desire, the men are never grander than at these times--the Australian Comforts Fund, the Y.M.C.A. and the canteen groceries provide almost all the comfort that ever enters that grim region.

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Definitions (18)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (6)

  1. noun 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.
  2. noun 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.
  3. noun A person noted for special achievement in a particular field: the heroes of medicine. See Synonyms at celebrity.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (7)

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This word has been looked up 221 times.

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

warrior ·  poet ·  soldier ·  god ·  lover ·  prince ·  father ·  genius ·  saint ·  character ·  priest ·  youth

Used in the same contextWord Family

hero:   heroes
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

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

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Old French heroe, French héros = Spanish héroe = Portuguese heroe = Italian eroe, from Latin heros, accusative heroem, from Greek ἡρως, a hero, usually a warrior, but in Homer a comprehensive term, and orig. applied to any freeman, being apparently = Sanskrit vīra, a man, a hero, = Latin vir, a man, = Gothic (Moesogothic) wair = Anglo-Saxon wer, a man: see wergild, werwolf.
 

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/ˈhiroʊ/
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