I. glo ‧ ry 1 /ˈɡlɔːri/ BrE AmE noun ( plural glories )
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: glorie , from Latin gloria ]
1 . [uncountable] the importance, honour, and praise that people give someone they admire a lot:
She dreamt of future glory as an Olympic champion.
Goran’s moment of glory came when he defeated Rafter.
He began the season in a blaze of glory, scoring seven goals in as many games.
2 . [countable] an achievement that is greatly admired or respected, or makes you very proud
glory of
one of the finest artistic glories of Florence
monuments to past glories
Becoming a Supreme Court judge was the crowning glory (=most successful part) of her career.
3 . [uncountable] when something is beautiful and impressive in appearance:
They spent $10 million restoring the theatre to its former glory.
in all its/their etc glory
The sun emerged from behind the clouds in all its glory.
4 . bask/bathe in sb’s/sth’s (reflected) glory to share some of the importance and praise that belongs to someone close to you
5 . glory days a time in the past when someone was admired:
the team’s glory days in the late '80s
6 . to the (greater) glory of somebody/something formal in order to increase the honour that is given to someone or something:
The cathedral was built to the greater glory of God.
7 . glory (be) to God/Jesus etc spoken used to say that God deserves praise, honour, and thanks
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COLLOCATIONS
■ phrases
▪ a blaze of glory (=when someone or something is praised a lot)
The film opened in a blaze of glory with rave reviews from critics.
▪ somebody's moment of glory
The team's only moment of glory came in the second half of the game.
▪ somebody's dream of glory
His dreams of glory were shattered when he lost to Federer.
■ verbs
▪ bask/bathe in the glory of something (=enjoy the fame and admiration you get)
Challenor basked in the glory of his achievement.
▪ cover yourself in glory (= do something that makes people admire you)
As team captain, he hasn't covered himself in glory.
▪ steal somebody's glory (=do something that makes you more admired than someone else who is doing something similar)
Collins is wonderful, but Shaw steals all the glory with his magnificent performance.
▪ win glory
He wanted to win glory in battle.
▪ bring glory to somebody/something
Locals hope the discovery will bring prosperity and glory to the town.
■ adjectives
▪ reflected glory (=fame that you get because you are close to someone who has done something that people admire)
She basked in the reflective glory of her daughter's marriage to such a famous actor.
▪ personal glory
He put the team's interests above any chance of personal glory.
▪ greater glory (=more fame and admiration)
He aimed to bring greater glory to France.
II. glory 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle gloried , present participle glorying , third person singular glories )
glory in something phrasal verb
to enjoy or be proud of something:
She didn’t like to glory in her past victories.