prayer beads
Americanplural noun
plural noun
Etymology
Origin of prayer beads
First recorded in 1620–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It paid homage to a nurse’s steady hands, to a mother’s prayer beads slipping through her fingers, and to a belief that our stories do not end at the point of collapse.
From Slate • Mar. 29, 2026
A teenager draws his slingshot, while fighters holding prayer beads take control of a Soviet tank, and peasants clutching pitchforks face Soviet soldiers.
From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026
Sitting atop a lotus, the Hindu goddess of wisdom holds a book, prayer beads and a classical instrument called a veena in her four hands.
From BBC • Nov. 3, 2024
“The children especially have faced difficulties, lack of education, and disconnection from society for five years,” he explained, sitting in a room with other tribesmen with a set of prayer beads in one hand.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 29, 2022
He’s wearing a tasbih, a necklace of prayer beads.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
