He·ro n.; pl. Heroes
 1. Myth. An illustrious man, supposed to be exalted, after death, to a place among the gods; a demigod, as Hercules.
 2. A man of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger, or fortitude in suffering; a prominent or central personage in any remarkable action or event; hence, a great or illustrious person.
    Each man is a hero and oracle to somebody.   --Emerson.
 3. The principal personage in a poem, story, and the like, or the person who has the principal share in the transactions related; as Achilles in the Iliad, Ulysses in the Odyssey, and Aeneas in the Aeneid.
    The shining quality of an epic hero.   --Dryden.
 Hero worship, extravagant admiration for great men, likened to the ancient worship of heroes.
 1
    Hero worship exists, has existed, and will forever exist, universally among mankind.   --Carlyle.

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 hero
      n 1: a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and
           strength; "RAF pilots were the heroes of the Battle of
           Britain"
      2: the principal character in a play or movie or novel or poem
      3: someone who fights for a cause [syn: champion, fighter,
         paladin]
      4: Greek mathematician and inventor who devised a way to
         determine the area of a triangle and who described various
         mechanical devices (first century) [syn: Heron, {Hero of
         Alexandria]
      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 [syn: bomber, grinder,
          hero sandwich, hoagie, hoagy, Cuban sandwich, {Italian
         sandwich, poor boy, sub, submarine, {submarine
         sandwich, torpedo, wedge, zep]
      [also: heroes (pl)]


 heroes
      See hero