Holly is an evergreen tree or shrub which has hard, shiny leaves with sharp points, and red berries in winter. Any of approximately 400 species of red-or black-berried ornamental shrubs and trees that make up the genus Ilex (family Aquifoliaceae), including the popular Christmas hollies. English holly (I. aquifolium) bears shiny, spiny, dark, evergreen leaves; American holly (I. opaca) has oblong, prickly leaves; both have usually red fruits. There are spineless and yellow-fruited forms of both species
The European species (Ilex Aquifolium) is best known, having glossy green leaves, with a spiny, waved edge, and bearing berries that turn red or yellow about Michaelmas
United States rock star (1936-1959) any tree or shrub of the genus Ilex having red berries and shiny evergreen leaves with prickly edges
any tree or shrub of the genus Ilex having red berries and shiny evergreen leaves with prickly edges
Holly grown around a house has long been believed to keep out evil It was also held to protect against the evil eye and storms It was also a protection against witches According to William Henderson's Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties witches hate holly because "its name is but another form of the word holy, and its thorny foliage and blood-red berries are suggestive of the most sacred Christian associations "
tropical Old World fern having glossy fronds suggestive of holly; sometimes placed in genus Polystichum any of various ferns of the genus Polystichum having fronds with texture and gloss like holly
born Sept. 10, 1892, Wooster, Ohio, U.S. died March 15, 1962, Berkeley, Calif. U.S. physicist. He taught at the University of Chicago (1923-45) and later served as chancellor (1945-54) and professor (1953-61) at Washington University. He is best known for his discovery and explanation of the Compton effect, for which he shared with C.T.R. Wilson the 1927 Nobel Prize for Physics. He was later instrumental in initiating the Manhattan Project, and he directed the development of the first nuclear reactors
a US pop singer, guitar player, and songwriter who, with his band The Crickets, helped to make rock 'n' roll music popular in the 1950s. His songs include That'll be the Day and Peggy Sue. He was killed in a plane crash (1936-59). orig. Charles Hardin Holley born Sept. 7, 1936, Lubbock, Texas, U.S. died Feb. 3, 1959, near Clear Lake, Iowa U.S. singer and songwriter. He played in country music bands while in high school. Later switching to rock and roll (see rock music), Holly and his band, the Crickets, had hits in 1957 with songs such as "That'll Be the Day," "Peggy Sue," and "Oh, Boy!" Holly died at age 22 in a plane crash, along with the singers Richie Valens (b. 1941) and The Big Bopper (Jape Richardson, b. 1930). He left behind many recordings that were released posthumously, and he soon attained legendary stature; he was part of the first group inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
woolly-stemmed biennial arborescent shrub of tropical Africa and southern Asia having silvery-white prickly branches, clusters of blue or white flowers, and bright red berries resembling holly berries
[ 'hä-lE ] (noun.) before 12th century. Middle English holly, shortening of holin, from Old English holeġn, from Proto-Germanic *xuli- (compare Dutch/German hulst, Old Norse hulfr), from Proto-Indo-European *kol 'prickly' (compare Welsh celyn 'holly', Russian kolos 'ear of wheat', Albanian kallí 'straw, chaff', Sanskrit kaţambá 'arrow'), from *kel 'to cut' (compare Old Church Slavonic kolja 'to prick').