Definition of "mikvah" [mikvah]

• A ritual purification bath taken by Jews on certain occasions, as before the Sabbath or after menstruation or ejaculation. (noun)
• A building, room, or fixture in which this bath takes place. (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.

• "One of the meanings of the Hebrew word mikvah is hope."
• "In my class, we were discussing how the ritual of the mikvah is less statement on women's role in respect to men, and more an attempt to continue a faith so strongly tied to blood line."
• "The mikvah is a bathhouse usually used by women for ritual cleansing."