The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Lionize \Li"on*ize\ (l[imac]"[u^]n*[imac]z), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
   Lionized (l[imac]"[u^]n*[imac]zd), p. pr. & vb. n.
   Lionizing (l[imac]"[u^]n*[imac]`z[i^]ng).]
   1. To treat or regard as a lion or object of great interest.
      --J. D. Forbes.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To show the lions or objects of interest to; to conduct
      about among objects of interest. --Macaulay.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

lionize
    v 1: assign great social importance to; "The film director was
         celebrated all over Hollywood"; "The tenor was lionized in
         Vienna" [syn: lionize, lionise, celebrate]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

54 Moby Thesaurus words for "lionize":
   adulate, aggrandize, apotheose, apotheosize, beatify, belaud,
   bepraise, bless, blow up, boast of, brag about, canonize,
   celebrate, crown, cry up, deify, elevate, emblazon, ennoble,
   enshrine, enthrone, eulogize, exalt, extol, flatter, glamorize,
   glorify, go slumming, hero-worship, idolize, immortalize, laud,
   magnify, make legendary, make much of, overpraise, panegyrize,
   pay tribute, porter aux nues, praise, puff, puff up, raise,
   rubberneck, saint, salute, sanctify, see the lions, see the sights,
   set up, sight-see, throne, trumpet, uplift