Definition of "holy water" []

• Water blessed by a priest and used for religious purposes. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "He appears as an abbot with various symbols: a raven, which fed him during his life as a hermit; a broken cup, referring to an attempted poisoning by disgruntled followers; a dove, symbolizing the soul of St. Scholastica, which appeared to him at her death; a book, representing his Rule; or a broken sieve or aspergillum, for sprinkling holy water to ward off the devil."
• "In his church the demon bearing the holy water stoup (opposite, bottom left) (Mary Evans Picture Library) embodies occult and Masonic concepts."
• "The brush or sponge on a handle with which the priest sprinkles holy water for purification is the aspergillum."