of the color of growing foliage, between yellow and blue in the spectrum.
green leaves.
covered with herbage or foliage; verdant.
green fields.
characterized by the presence of verdure.
made of green vegetables, as lettuce, spinach, endive, or chicory.
a green salad.
not fully developed or perfected in growth or condition; unripe; not properly aged.
This peach is still green.
unseasoned; not dried or cured.
green lumber.
immature in age or judgment; untrained; inexperienced.
a green worker.
simple; unsophisticated; gullible; easily fooled.
fresh, recent, or new.
an insult still green in his mind.
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.
full of life and vigor; young.
a man ripe in years but green in heart.
environmentally sound or beneficial.
green computers.
(of wine) having a flavor that is raw, harsh, and acid, due especially to a lack of maturity.
freshly slaughtered or still raw.
green meat.
not fired, as bricks or pottery.
(of cement or mortar) freshly set and not completely hardened.
Foundry.
(of sand) sufficiently moist to form a compact lining for a mold without further treatment.
(of a casting) as it comes from the mold.
(of a powder, in powder metallurgy) unsintered.
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.
Art. a secondary color that has been formed by the mixture of blue and yellow pigments.
green coloring matter, as paint or dye.
green material or clothing.
to be dressed in green.
Also called Army greens. greens. a blue-green uniform of the U.S. Army.
greens,
fresh leaves or branches of trees, shrubs, etc., used for decoration.
the leaves and stems of plants, as spinach, lettuce, or beets, used as food.
grassy land; a plot of grassy ground.
a piece of grassy ground constituting a town or village common.
Also called putting green. Golf. the area of closely cropped grass surrounding each hole.
a shooting range for archery.
Informal. green light.
Slang. Usually the green money; greenbacks.
I'd like to buy a new car but I don't have the green.
Green, a member of the Green party.
to become or make green.
Informal. to restore the vitality of.
Younger executives are greening corporate managements.
Henrietta Howland Robinson Hetty, 1835–1916, U.S. financier.
Henry Henry Vincent Yorke, 1905–73, English novelist.
John Richard, 1837–83, English historian.
Julian, 1900–1998, French writer, born in U.S.
Paul Eliot, 1894–1981, U.S. playwright, novelist, and teacher.
William, 1873–1952, U.S. labor leader: president of the A.F.L. 1924–52.
a river flowing S from W Wyoming to join the Colorado River in SE Utah. 730 miles (1,175 km) long.
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
a dye or pigment of or producing these colours
something of the colour green
a small area of grassland, esp in the centre of a village
an area of ground used for a purpose
a putting green
(plural)
the edible leaves and stems of certain plants, eaten as a vegetable
freshly cut branches of ornamental trees, shrubs, etc, used as a decoration
(sometimes capital) a person, esp a politician, who supports environmentalist issues (see sense 13)
slang money
slang marijuana of low quality
slang (plural) sexual intercourse
of the colour green
greenish in colour or having parts or marks that are greenish
a green monkey
(sometimes capital) concerned with or relating to conservation of the world's natural resources and improvement of the environment
green policies
the green consumer
vigorous; not faded
a green old age
envious or jealous
immature, unsophisticated, or gullible
characterized by foliage or green plants
a green wood
a green salad
fresh, raw, or unripe
green bananas
unhealthily pale in appearance
he was green after his boat trip
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
(of pottery) not fired
(of meat) not smoked or cured; unprocessed
green bacon
metallurgy (of a product, such as a sand mould or cermet) compacted but not yet fired; ready for firing
(of timber) freshly felled; not dried or seasoned
(of concrete) not having matured to design strength
Henry, real name Henry Vincent Yorke . 1905–73, British novelist: author of Living (1929), Loving (1945), and Back (1946)
John Richard. 1837–83, British historian; author of A Short History of the English People (1874)
T ( homas ) H ( ill ). 1836–82, British idealist philosopher. His chief work, Prolegomena to Ethics, was unfinished at his death
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English grēne; cognate with German grün; akin to grow
Green is a color on the spectrum between blue and yellow, or made by mixing those colors. You might love the brilliant color of the green grass in the spring time. Green is a color you tend to see everywhere in nature, especially in the summer. Grass, trees, and plants are varying shades of green, and so is the lettuce that's used to make "a green salad." Green also means "unripe" as in a tomato, or "inexperienced," as in someone who's new at a job. In the 16th century, Shakespeare coined the phrase "the green-ey'd monster," and since then green has symbolized jealousy or envy.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Not your typical work lunch, to be sure, but in these atypical times, it ain’t easy staying green.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
Developer Mitsui Fudosan plans a "green buffer zone" of up to 78 metres with trees and a stream, reducing the noise, the heat and the "oppressive feeling", said project manager Toshitsugu Jouzuka.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
As he began his bid to win two majors in the same season for the first time since 2014, McIlroy lurched from the sublime off the tee to the ridiculous on the green.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
Verizon VZ 2.80%increase; green up pointing triangle Communications is cutting roughly 3,000 workers as part of a move to close hundreds of its retail stores.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
The spot is still damp and discolored, but at least the fabric is warmer and the white flowers have faded to a less disgusting green.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
The first is the Treasury's Green Book, which decides infrastructure spending and which has traditionally valued existing areas of high growth and land value the most.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Callum Dare, 26, from Talbot Green in Rhondda Cynon Taf, was arrested in October 2019 after the FBI identified him in international chat rooms.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
U.S. fans may remember Julian Green, who made history when he scored with his first touch at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, becoming the national team’s youngest goal scorer at 19 years old.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
“He’s galvanized us, and I think he’s made America believe in the UAW again,” said Tracy Green, who leads a UAW local representing GM workers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
In 1869, President Andrew Johnson released the body of John Wilkes Booth to the assassin’s brother, Edwin, who had him buried quietly in the family plot at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.
From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson
I found, unsurprisingly, that the steps people have taken vary quite significantly, but they all have one common denominator: The greens are cooked—in more ways than one.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
Pay attention when lettuce or greens show up in sandwiches or burgers.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Lettuce and other leafy foods with multiple layers pose a higher risk of contamination, but with a vigorous wash and peeling the outer layers, even the greens can be saved.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Originally from Nice, the classic salade Niçoise has just a handful of local ingredients, including tomatoes, anchovies and seasonal greens.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Miss Josie set out a pot of collard greens and Southern cornbread.
From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser
You know the story: The pool got greener and greener.
From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2026
“You get good healthcare, nice leisurely lunches, it’s a different way of life,” he said, “It’s not that the grass is always greener, these are just facts.”
From Barron's ● Jun. 7, 2026
"We are looking at environmental disasters like oil spills, and identifying ways to remediate them in faster, greener and more sustainable ways," Oran said.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2026
Though the new process will be greener, a fraction of the staff will be needed, with a loss of more than 2,000 jobs.
From BBC ● May 31, 2026
Starting from the sandy southern point, the island grew wider and greener and hillier until it finally jutted up into the rocky cone of the mountain.
From "The Wild Robot" by Peter Brown
It ranges from the greenest to the dirtiest, from established technologies to speculative ones, and even includes companies that play tangential roles in the sector.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 24, 2025
He uses this as an example of us "securing a brighter future for both animals, and us, too" in our unique metropolis - the world's greenest major city.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2025
I was behind the wheel of the biggest, meanest, greenest, most American street-legal machine in existence.
From Slate ● Jun. 22, 2025
Despite the greenest possible light, at least one of his 93 NBA field-goal attempts have had to cross Knecht’s “crazy or something like that” threshold, right?
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 17, 2024
Not by butterflies with wings as clear as little cats-eye glasses; not by the longest or shortest or greenest snake in the road.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Trees with access to shallow water tables "greened up" during drought, the researchers found, while trees over deeper water tables experienced more foliage browning and tree death.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2024
Often, that's good news—the events have ended droughts, refilled reservoirs, and greened rolling hills.
From National Geographic ● Jan. 25, 2024
Olsen told Jackson that you can cut off lightly greened patches and toss any potatoes with large green areas, though you may want to be more conservative when serving children.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 17, 2022
People around greened lots reported feeling less depressed.
From New York Times ● Oct. 8, 2021
Week after week, I returned to Iowa, watching through the plane window as the seasons changed, as the earth slowly greened and the soybean and corn crops grew in ruler-straight lines.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
So experts said countries across the region should further insulate energy systems against more frequent disruptive weather events by diversifying and greening their grids.
From Barron's ● May 5, 2026
Her priorities have included early education expansion, school greening improvements, literacy through phonics training, protecting immigrant students and focusing more budget resources on the highest-need schools.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026
It wasn’t just greening that had to be worried about.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
However the pumpkins got there, it was an uplifting sight, as was the greening of the mountains and foothills just up the way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2025
Rations among the Army were reduced to salt-pork, now rank with flies and greening.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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.
