HERO (heroes)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: heroes   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Hero mean? 

• HERO (noun)
  The noun HERO has 7 senses:

1. a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength

2. the principal character in a play or movie or novel or poem

3. someone who fights for a cause

4. Greek mathematician and inventor who devised a way to determine the area of a triangle and who described various mechanical devices (first century)

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

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

  Familiarity information: HERO used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HERO (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

RAF pilots were the heroes of the Battle of Britain

Hypernyms ("hero" is a kind of...):

leader (a person who rules or guides or inspires others)

Instance hyponyms:

Armin; Arminius; Hermann (German hero; leader at the battle of Teutoburger Wald in AD 9 (circa 18 BC - AD 19))

Job (a Jewish hero in the Old Testament who maintained his faith in God in spite of afflictions that tested him)

Derivation:

heroical (having or displaying qualities appropriate for heroes)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The principal character in a play or movie or novel or poem

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("hero" is a kind of...):

character; part; persona; role; theatrical role (an actor's portrayal of someone in a play)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Someone who fights for a cause

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

champion; fighter; hero; paladin

Hypernyms ("hero" is a kind of...):

defender; guardian; protector; shielder (a person who cares for persons or property)

Derivation:

heroical (having or displaying qualities appropriate for heroes)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Greek mathematician and inventor who devised a way to determine the area of a triangle and who described various mechanical devices (first century)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Hero; Hero of Alexandria; Heron

Instance hypernyms:

artificer; discoverer; inventor (someone who is the first to think of or make something)

mathematician (a person skilled in mathematics)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(classical mythology) a being of great strength and courage celebrated for bold exploits; often the offspring of a mortal and a god

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("hero" is a kind of...):

mythical being (an imaginary being of myth or fable)

Domain category:

classical mythology (the system of mythology of the Greeks and Romans together; much of Roman mythology (especially the gods) was borrowed from the Greeks)

Derivation:

heroical (having or displaying qualities appropriate for heroes)

Sense 6

Meaning:

(Greek mythology) priestess of Aphrodite who killed herself when her lover Leander drowned while trying to swim the Hellespont to see her

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

mythical being (an imaginary being of myth or fable)

Domain category:

Greek mythology (the mythology of the ancient Greeks)

Sense 7

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

bomber; Cuban sandwich; grinder; hero; hero sandwich; hoagie; hoagy; Italian sandwich; poor boy; sub; submarine; submarine sandwich; torpedo; wedge; zep

Hypernyms ("hero" is a kind of...):

sandwich (two (or more) slices of bread with a filling between them)

 Context examples 

I did; but the Captain was a Captain and a hero, in despite of all the grammars of all the languages in the world, dead or alive.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“How can the Old World heroes compare with ours?” I shook my head.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Like that immortal hero, she reposed awhile after the first attempt, which resulted in a tumble and the least lovely of the giant's treasures, if I remember rightly.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

For once I was the hero of the expedition.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The first seemed to be an assembly of heroes and demigods; the other, a knot of pedlars, pick-pockets, highwayman, and bullies.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Wrong—you will have powerful help, and it will come from action-hero Mars.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

It was a story that profoundly interested Silver; and Ben Gunn, the half-idiot maroon, was the hero from beginning to end.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“The hero of the Long Island cave mystery?” said Holmes.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He received the "Hero of the Soviet Union", the Soviet Union's highest honor, for his work.

(Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov dies at age 85, Wikinews)

The hero, however, went to the king, who was now, whether he liked it or not, obliged to keep his promise, and gave his daughter and the half of his kingdom.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)