Dewey

American  

[doo-ee, dyoo-ee] / ˈdu i, ˈdyu i /

noun

1. George, 1837–1917, U.S. admiral: defeated Spanish fleet in Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War.

2. John, 1859–1952, U.S. philosopher and educator.

3. Melvil Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey, 1851–1931, U.S. educator, administrator, and innovator in the field of library science.

4. Thomas E(dmund), 1902–71, U.S. lawyer and political leader.

5. a male given name, form of David.

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Dewey British  

/ ˈdjuːɪ /

noun

1. John. 1859–1952, US pragmatist philosopher and educator: an exponent of progressivism in education, he formulated an instrumentalist theory of learning through experience. His works include The School and Society (1899), Democracy and Education (1916), and Logic: the Theory of Inquiry (1938)

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Example Sentences

“What helped me most was first recognizing the feeling as it started,” recalls Dewey.

From Slate • Mar. 15, 2026

James Dewey Watson was born in Chicago on 6 April 1928 to a family who believed in "books, birds and the Democratic Party".

From BBC • Nov. 7, 2025

Along with Campbell, “Scream 7” will see the return of “Scream” veterans Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers and David Arquette as Dewey Riley, despite the latter’s fate in the 2022 installment.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2025

Marlon Dewey, 38, was visiting from rural Kansas for work.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 29, 2025

The Dewey decimal doors would open in one hour and forty-five minutes.

From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein