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/ˈaɪdəl/ Listen

noun

Idol n.

An image or representation of anything. (Obs.) "Do her adore with sacred reverence, As th' idol of her maker's great magnificence."

An image of a divinity; a representation or symbol of a deity or any other being or thing, made or used as an object of worship; a similitude of a false god. "That they should not worship devils, and idols of gold."

That on which the affections are strongly (often excessively) set; an object of passionate devotion; a person or thing greatly loved or adored. "The soldier's god and people's idol."

A false notion or conception; a fallacy. "The idols of preconceived opinion."

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Etymology of 'Idol'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Idol" Quotes from Famous Books

... administer sly digs to his grandeur whenever she could. In the praise services among the "inmates" which were almost sure to follow a call of the great man at the Fair Harbor it was disconcerting and provoking to the worshipers to have Esther refer to the idol as "that Eg." Mrs. Brackett took her to ...

— Fair Harbor • Joseph Crosby Lincoln

... and the strongest advocates of reform despaired of success. Innovations are expedient only when they remove evil, and when men are prepared to receive them. Command a Turk to shave his beard—by which he swears—the idol of his life. As well bid him cut off his right arm or pluck out an eye—he would obey one as soon as the other. The impolicy of changing the customs and dress of a half-civilized, warlike nation, has been made obvious in many instances—none more impressive ...

— The Continental Monthly, Vol 3 No 3, March 1863 - Devoted To Literature And National Policy • Various

... knowledge of life was strictly limited to her experience of life; she knew no drama of passion except that which the Gospels relate: this story in the Family Reader was the first representation of life she had met with, and its humanity thrilled her like the first idol set up for worship. The actress told Norris that she loved him. They were on a balcony, the sky was blue, the moon was shining, the warm scent of the mignonette came up from the garden below, the man was in evening dress with diamond shirt studs, the actress's arm was ...

— Esther Waters • George Moore

... his voice and gesticulates; he makes great movements in the night at the vision of his idol, to whom his leanness and his long elastic arms give him some resemblance. "He's for war; he's for Alsace-Lorraine, that's what he's for; and above all, he's for nothing else. Ah, that's all there is to it! The Boches have got to disappear off ...

— Light • Henri Barbusse

... in his sonorous rolling voice, that must have done as much to make him a popular idol in his State as his more distinguished gifts for public life. Betty decided that the more senatorial he was the better she liked him. She knew that he was a favourite with men, and had a vague idea that men, when in the exclusive society of their own sex, always told witty anecdotes, but ...

— Senator North • Gertrude Atherton

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