Gideon

American

[gid-ee-uhn] / ˈgɪd i ən /

noun

Also called Jerubbaal. (in the Bible) a judge of ancient Israel and conqueror of the Midianites.
a member of the Gideons International, a society founded in 1899 to place Bibles in hotel rooms.
a male given name: from a Hebrew word meaning “great destroyer.”

Gideon British

/ ˈɡɪdɪən /

noun

Old Testament a Hebrew judge who led the Israelites to victory over their Midianite oppressors (Judges 6:11–8:35)

"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

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.

The Financial Times’ Gideon Rachman has pointed out that China still has a monopoly on rare earth minerals, which they used to great advantage during the recent tariff war.

From Salon • May 14, 2026

"Astrobiology is fundamentally a forensic science," said Gideon Yoffe, postdoctoral researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and first author of the study.

From Science Daily • May 12, 2026

She received the peer-decided Gideon Award as felony attorney of the year in 2025, her bio states.

From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026

Earlier, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar criticised Ukraine for making allegations like this in public, insisting that they were "not evidence" but that the matter would be examined.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

Did Gideon have no fear, or did he just push it away?

From "Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story" by Nora Raleigh Baskin

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