What's the difference between bless and praise?

Bless


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To make or pronounce holy; to consecrate
  • (v. t.) To make happy, blithesome, or joyous; to confer prosperity or happiness upon; to grant divine favor to.
  • (v. t.) To express a wish or prayer for the happiness of; to invoke a blessing upon; -- applied to persons.
  • (v. t.) To invoke or confer beneficial attributes or qualities upon; to invoke or confer a blessing on, -- as on food.
  • (v. t.) To make the sign of the cross upon; to cross (one's self).
  • (v. t.) To guard; to keep; to protect.
  • (v. t.) To praise, or glorify; to extol for excellences.
  • (v. t.) To esteem or account happy; to felicitate.
  • (v. t.) To wave; to brandish.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Some parents are blessed with a soul that lights up every time their little precious brings them a carefully crafted portrait or home-made greetings card.
  • (2) Attorneys for people caught on the US’s sprawling terrorism watchlists are expressing concern that the latest tactic by gun control advocates is blessing the legitimacy of a process they say threatens civil rights.
  • (3) I often remind him that after a test or a difficulty, blessings arrive.
  • (4) The move, first mooted two months ago, has been instigated with Jol's blessing and the new man was quick to insist he had spent "many hours" talking with his compatriot prior to accepting the position, even if his arrival effectively dilutes the manager's powerbase at the club.
  • (5) Unable to tap international markets, with its banks forced to rely on limited emergency funding provided on a week-by-week basis with the blessing of the ECB, it is fast running out of cash.
  • (6) The fact that property is unequally distributed so many people don't have blessed "property rights" gets airbrushed from the theory.
  • (7) Waitrose evokes strong opinions: from sniffy derision about the supermarket's perceived airs and graces to expressions of joy from middle-class incomers when their gentrified area is blessed with a branch.
  • (8) Photograph: Alex Lake for Observer Food Monthly Sky Sports’ managing director, Barney Francis, added: “We wish Gary all the very best as he returns to football with our blessing and begins his managerial career with Valencia.
  • (9) May God bless you all, and may God continue to bless America.
  • (10) It is a sacred moment, and you feel blessed merely to have witnessed it.
  • (11) He’s gifted, a blessed young man with incredible hand speed and power.
  • (12) We felt blessed,” said Rebecca, pulling out another family picture in which a smiling Sarah leans her head against her mother’s shoulder, her younger siblings crowing around them.
  • (13) He often claimed that God had blessed him with the gift of the delayed hangover, one that kicked in only when he had done his day's work.
  • (14) While big businesses have enjoyed access to new couriers, Royal Mail itself eventually reached such a dire state that the Hooper report urged the government to rewrite the law to clarify that competition was a mixed blessing.
  • (15) Rate of progression of dementia was determined in 77 patients by repeated administration of the Blessed Dementia Scale (BDS).
  • (16) For whatever reason, the team is not gelling, despite substantial financial backing in the summer and the dressing room being blessed with a huge amount of quality.
  • (17) I wish him - with Caroline and the family - every blessing, and hope that the church of England and the Anglican communion will share my pleasure at this appointment and support him with prayer and love."
  • (18) Meena Raman of the Malaysia-based Third World Network told IPS: "Given the stance of the United States thus far in the Rio+20 negotiations, and the position they have taken in the climate change negotiations in Durban, it may perhaps be a blessing that President Obama is not coming to Rio."
  • (19) It was an unbelievable feeling,” Keating told Associated Press, adding she felt “totally blessed and loved” by the pope.
  • (20) Quite a number of people brought up in the emotional straitjackets of the English upper classes found blessed relief in the permission the Holy Spirit gave them to weep or laugh and gibber and faint in public.

Praise


Definition:

  • (v.) To commend; to applaud; to express approbation of; to laud; -- applied to a person or his acts.
  • (v.) 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.
  • (v.) To value; to appraise.
  • (v.) Commendation for worth; approval expressed; honor rendered because of excellence or worth; laudation; approbation.
  • (v.) 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.
  • (v.) The object, ground, or reason of praise.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Squadron Leader Kevin Harris, commander of the Merlins at Camp Bastion, the main British base in Helmand, praised the crews, adding: "The Merlins will undergo an extensive programme of maintenance and cleaning before being packed up, ensuring they return to the UK in good order."
  • (2) Although they were praised in the last five years as the most efficient drugs against cancer and infectious diseases, no great success was clinically and experimentally reported in the past.
  • (3) In Experiment II, identification training, consisting of instructions, praise, feedback, and practice was introduced after baseline.
  • (4) The brightly lit ice palaces themselves are stunning, inside and out, and the sporting facilities have been rightly praised by almost all the athletes.
  • (5) Israel’s president has told his Mexican counterpart that he was “sorry for the hurt” over a tweet in which the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appeared to praise Donald Trump’s plans to build a wall on the US-Mexican border.
  • (6) There was praise for existing programmes such as the Ferguson Youth Initiative, which gives young people the chance to earn a bike or a computer.
  • (7) It’s clear which way the ultra-right community around Ukip wishes to go: their timelines are full of praise for Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders , and blazing with imagery – both real and fake – of migrant riots in France and Sweden.
  • (8) He praised the obvious disgust of local people in parts of south and west Manchester, where gang problems have been concentrated.
  • (9) The letter praised the company's progress in responding to the inspection.
  • (10) After the event, McCray praised the duchess on Twitter for her passion on issues of mental health and early childhood development, saying “her warmth and passion for the cause was infectious”.
  • (11) The video is done in the style of a news report for Russia's Kremlin-controlled Channel One channel, which normally praises Putin in every broadcast.
  • (12) "The hollow words of praise from the home secretary are meaningless today.
  • (13) The current president of the supreme court, Lord Phillips, who steps down at the end of September, welcomed his successor, praising his "wealth of judicial experience" and "ability to lead a collegiate court".
  • (14) Thokozile Masipa, a 68-year-old former journalist who was only the second black woman to be appointed to the high court, was praised for her calm authority despite her controversial original verdict.
  • (15) At the hearing, committee chairman Senator Patrick Leahy, praised the secret service as "wise, very professional men and women", and called it shocking that so many of the agency's employees were involved in the scandal.
  • (16) Sometimes in the other team’s half, sometimes in front of his own box, sometimes as the last man.” Die Zeit singles out Bayern’s veteran midfielder Schweinsteiger for praise: “In this historic, dramatic and fascinating victory over Argentina , Schweinsteiger was the boss on the pitch.
  • (17) For now, Shimizu will not allow the children in her care to be interviewed and brushes off praise for her selflessness.
  • (18) Boris Johnson , the London mayor, got into hot water last week when he praised the value of greed as a spur to progress and controversially suggested some people struggle to get on in life because of their low IQs.
  • (19) It brought back Thatcher biographer Hugo Young's words for a front page portrait that offered criticism as well as praise for her legacy.
  • (20) Behind the scenes, at least, it appears Anelka has proved a welcome addition to the club's ranks, with Berahino, who scored the visitors' third goal with a fizzing drive, praising the veteran as a positive influence on his fellow frontmen.