Praise, n. [OE. preis, OF.
preis price, worth, value, estimation. See Praise,
v., Price.] 1.
Commendation for worth; approval expressed; honor rendered
because of excellence or worth; laudation; approbation.
There are men who always confound the praise of
goodness with the practice.
Rambler.
☞ Praise may be expressed by an individual, and thus
differs from fame, renown, and celebrity, which
are always the expression of the approbation of numbers, or public
commendation.
2. Especially, the joyful tribute of gratitude
or homage rendered to the Divine Being; the act of glorifying or
extolling the Creator; worship, particularly worship by song,
distinction from prayer and other acts of worship; as, a service of
praise.
3. The object, ground, or reason of
praise.
He is thy praise, and he is thy
God.
Deut. x.??.
Syn. -- Encomium; honor; eulogy; panegyric; plaudit;
applause; acclaim; eclat; commendation; laudation.
Praise (?), v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Praised (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Praising.] [OE. preisen, OF. preisier,
prisier, F. priser, L. pretiare to prize, fr.
pretium price. See Price, n., and cf.
Appreciate, Praise, n., Prize,
v.] 1. To commend; to applaud;
to express approbation of; to laud; -- applied to a person or his
acts. "I praise well thy wit." Chaucer.
Let her own works praise her in the
gates.
Prov. xxxi. 31.
We praise not Hector, though his name, we
know,
Is great in arms; 't is hard to praise a foe.
Dryden.
2. To extol in words or song; to magnify; to
glorify on account of perfections or excellent works; to do honor to;
to display the excellence of; -- applied especially to the Divine
Being.
Praise ye him, all his angels; praise ye
him, all his hosts!
Ps. cxlviii. 2.
3. To value; to appraise. [Obs.]
Piers Plowman.
Syn. -- To commend; laud; eulogize; celebrate; glorify;
magnify. -- To Praise, Applaud, Extol. To
praise is to set at high price; to applaud is to greet
with clapping; to extol is to bear aloft, to exalt. We may
praise in the exercise of calm judgment; we usually
applaud from impulse, and on account of some specific act; we
extol under the influence of high admiration, and usually in
strong, if not extravagant, language.