Hero - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Hero :  (noun)
1: a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength; "RAF pilots were the heroes of the Battle of Britain"
2: the principal character in a play or movie or novel or poem
3: someone who fights for a cause [syn: champion, fighter, paladin]
4: Greek mathematician and inventor who devised a way to determine the area of a triangle and who described various mechanical devices (first century) [syn: Hero, Heron, Hero of Alexandria]
5: (classical mythology) a being of great strength and courage celebrated for bold exploits; often the offspring of a mortal and a god
6: (Greek mythology) priestess of Aphrodite who killed herself when her lover Leander drowned while trying to swim the Hellespont to see her [syn: Hero]
7: a large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments); different names are used in different sections of the United States [syn: bomber, grinder, hero sandwich, hoagie, hoagy, Cuban sandwich, Italian sandwich, poor boy, sub, submarine, submarine sandwich, torpedo, wedge, zep]

Based on WordNet 2.0

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.

Based on WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003)
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