Green Definition & Meaning - Adjective

American

British

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Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms green 1 American [green] / grin /

adjective

greener, greenest

1. of the color of growing foliage, between yellow and blue in the spectrum.

   green leaves.

2. covered with herbage or foliage; verdant.

   green fields.

3. characterized by the presence of verdure.

4. made of green vegetables, as lettuce, spinach, endive, or chicory.

   a green salad.

5. not fully developed or perfected in growth or condition; unripe; not properly aged.

   This peach is still green.

6. unseasoned; not dried or cured.

   green lumber.

7. immature in age or judgment; untrained; inexperienced.

   a green worker.

8. simple; unsophisticated; gullible; easily fooled.

9. fresh, recent, or new.

   an insult still green in his mind.

10. having a sickly appearance; pale; wan: She was excited and laughing happily when the plane took off, but when her skydiving instructor opened the door at 9,000 feet, her face went positively green with fear.

    You’re looking a little green there—are you going to be sick?

    She was excited and laughing happily when the plane took off, but when her skydiving instructor opened the door at 9,000 feet, her face went positively green with fear.

11. full of life and vigor; young.

    a man ripe in years but green in heart.

12. environmentally sound or beneficial.

    green computers.

13. (of wine) having a flavor that is raw, harsh, and acid, due especially to a lack of maturity.

14. freshly slaughtered or still raw.

    green meat.

15. not fired, as bricks or pottery.

16. (of cement or mortar) freshly set and not completely hardened.

17. Foundry.

    1. (of sand) sufficiently moist to form a compact lining for a mold without further treatment.

    2. (of a casting) as it comes from the mold.

    3. (of a powder, in powder metallurgy) unsintered.

noun

1. a color intermediate in the spectrum between yellow and blue, an effect of light with a wavelength between 500 and 570 nanometers; found in nature as the color of most grasses and leaves while growing, of some fruits while ripening, and of the sea.

2. Art. a secondary color that has been formed by the mixture of blue and yellow pigments.

3. green coloring matter, as paint or dye.

4. 1. green material or clothing.

      to be dressed in green.

   2. Also called Army greens. greens. a blue-green uniform of the U.S. Army.

5. greens,

   1. fresh leaves or branches of trees, shrubs, etc., used for decoration.

   2. the leaves and stems of plants, as spinach, lettuce, or beets, used as food.

6. grassy land; a plot of grassy ground.

7. a piece of grassy ground constituting a town or village common.

8. Also called putting green. Golf. the area of closely cropped grass surrounding each hole.

9. bowling green.

10. a shooting range for archery.

11. Informal. green light.

12. Slang. Usually the green money; greenbacks.

    I'd like to buy a new car but I don't have the green.

13. Green, a member of the Green party.

verb (used with or without object)

1. to become or make green.

2. Informal. to restore the vitality of.

   Younger executives are greening corporate managements.

idioms

1. green with envy. envy.

2. read the green, to inspect a golf green, analyzing its slope and surface, so as to determine the difficulties to be encountered when putting.

3. green around the gills. gill.

Green 2 American [green] / grin /

noun

1. Henrietta Howland Robinson Hetty, 1835–1916, U.S. financier.

2. Henry Henry Vincent Yorke, 1905–73, English novelist.

3. John Richard, 1837–83, English historian.

4. Julian, 1900–1998, French writer, born in U.S.

5. Paul Eliot, 1894–1981, U.S. playwright, novelist, and teacher.

6. William, 1873–1952, U.S. labor leader: president of the A.F.L. 1924–52.

7. a river flowing S from W Wyoming to join the Colorado River in SE Utah. 730 miles (1,175 km) long.

green 1 British / ɡriːn /

noun

1. any of a group of colours, such as that of fresh grass, that lie between yellow and blue in the visible spectrum in the wavelength range 575–500 nanometres. Green is the complementary colour of magenta and with red and blue forms a set of primary colours

2. a dye or pigment of or producing these colours

3. something of the colour green

4. a small area of grassland, esp in the centre of a village

5. an area of ground used for a purpose

   a putting green

6. (plural)

   1. the edible leaves and stems of certain plants, eaten as a vegetable

   2. freshly cut branches of ornamental trees, shrubs, etc, used as a decoration

7. (sometimes capital) a person, esp a politician, who supports environmentalist issues (see sense 13)

8. slang money

9. slang marijuana of low quality

10. slang (plural) sexual intercourse

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

1. of the colour green

2. greenish in colour or having parts or marks that are greenish

   a green monkey

3. (sometimes capital) concerned with or relating to conservation of the world's natural resources and improvement of the environment

   green policies

   the green consumer

4. vigorous; not faded

   a green old age

5. envious or jealous

6. immature, unsophisticated, or gullible

7. characterized by foliage or green plants

   a green wood

   a green salad

8. fresh, raw, or unripe

   green bananas

9. unhealthily pale in appearance

   he was green after his boat trip

10. denoting a unit of account that is adjusted in accordance with fluctuations between the currencies of the EU nations and is used to make payments to agricultural producers within the EU

    green pound

11. (of pottery) not fired

12. (of meat) not smoked or cured; unprocessed

    green bacon

13. metallurgy (of a product, such as a sand mould or cermet) compacted but not yet fired; ready for firing

14. (of timber) freshly felled; not dried or seasoned

15. (of concrete) not having matured to design strength

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

1. to make or become green

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Green 2 British / ɡriːn /

noun

1. Henry, real name Henry Vincent Yorke . 1905–73, British novelist: author of Living (1929), Loving (1945), and Back (1946)

2. John Richard. 1837–83, British historian; author of A Short History of the English People (1874)

3. T ( homas ) H ( ill ). 1836–82, British idealist philosopher. His chief work, Prolegomena to Ethics, was unfinished at his death

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 green More Idioms

More idioms and phrases containing green

• grass is always greener

Other Word Forms

• greenage noun
• greenish adjective
• greenly adverb
• greenness noun
• greeny adjective
• nongreen adjective
• outgreen verb (used with object)
• ungreened adjective

Etymology

Origin of green

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English grēne; cognate with German grün; akin to grow

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Prior to the changes, energy bills in England, Scotland and Wales included additional charges to help fund insulation for low-income households, and subsidise green energy projects such as wind farms and solar panels.

From BBC

Clark, who wore a green jumper, black trousers and a beige coat in the dock, put her hand to her face.

From BBC

The EU needs to plough more money into its digital and green transitions as well as defence, faced with rising global instability.

From Barron's

Of the leading contenders only he and Justin Thomas had taken on the teasing pin tight to the right edge of the island green 17th.

From BBC

A sector expected to benefit from secular growth via the AI boom and higher oil prices is green energy, Goldman reckons.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• fresh
• grassy
• leafy
• lush
• raw
• tender
• verdant

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.