excelsior UK /ɛkˈsɛl.si.ɔː/US /ɛkˈsɛl.si.ɚ/adjective 2exclamation 2noun 2 adjective2 •(no longer used, rare) Loftier, yet higher, more elevated; ever upward.At this crisis, reverberating among the pines, rang out more distinctly the voice of the excelsior man , urging me to come on. "Oh! I'm all right down here," I answered, gasping for breath. — 1890 •(no longer used, rare) More surpassing, more excelling.It was clear from the first three paragraphs that the language employed by Mr Tolkien was excelsior. He was brilliant. — 2004 exclamation2 •(old-fashioned) Onward; a rallying cry for progress.... and when the shout 'Excelsior!' echoed, up the oaken heights, Two hundred heels went thundering all at once, Four stairs at every jump — 1851 •(slang) A greeting, farewell or acclamation.MARTIN PRINCE: Finally, Bart's one of us! NERDS: Excelsior! — 1993 noun2 •(US, Canada) Stuffing material (as for furniture and mattresses) made of slender, curled woodshavings, as a substitute for hair.Each Pet Rock came in a cardboard carrying case, complete with air holes, tenderly nestled on a bed of excelsior. — 2015 •(US, old-fashioned) The size of type between Norse and brilliant, standardized as 3-point.
