a string of beads used in counting prayers (especially by Catholics)
"She gently moved her fingers along the wooden rosary as she recited each prayer during her evening devotion."
Prayer beads, a string of beads used to keep track of repetitions in prayer, particularly in the Roman Catholic Marian prayer "Hail Mary" (Ave Maria)
"He quietly held his rosary as he recited the Hail Marys before leaving for work."