1. Small leather boxes containing Hebrew scriptural passages, worn by Jewish men during morning prayer as a sign of devotion to God's law.
Usage: Usually used in plural; singular form is phylactery.; Also called tefillin in Hebrew.
2. An amulet or charm worn as protection against evil or disease.
Usage: Archaic or historical usage.

Examples

• The rabbi instructed the students on how to properly bind the phylacteries around their arms and foreheads.
• During morning prayers, the men wore their phylacteries as commanded in the Torah.
• The phylacteries contain passages from Deuteronomy and Exodus.
• In medieval times, people sometimes wore phylacteries as protective charms.
• The leather straps of the phylacteries are wound in a specific pattern according to Jewish tradition.