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• green
  green

  adjective

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

  noun

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

green

¹ American  

[green] / grin /

adjective

• greener,
  comparative
• greenest
  superlative

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.

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noun

• greens
  plural

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)

• greens,
  present (3rd person singular)
• greened,
  past participle,  past
• greening
  present participle

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.

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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

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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

verb

1. to make or become green

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

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green More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing green

• grass is always greener

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• greens
  plural

Adjectives

• greener
  comparative
• greenest
  superlative

Participles

• greening
  present
• greened
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• green
  simple
• greens
  simple
• have greened
  perfect
• has greened
  perfect
• am greening
  progressive
• are greening
  progressive
• is greening
  progressive
• have been greening
  perfect progressive
• has been greening
  perfect progressive

Past

• greened
  simple
• had greened
  perfect
• was greening
  progressive
• were greening
  progressive
• had been greening
  perfect progressive

Future

• will green
  simple
• will have greened
  perfect
• will be greening
  progressive
• will have been greening
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of green

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

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

green Green greens greener greenest greened greening

The project was given the green light during a two-day state visit to France by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

The Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with Zillow Z 2.56%increase; green up pointing triangle and Redfin, resolving an earlier claim that the companies had worked together to reduce competition in the marketplace.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

Non-haem iron -- the form of iron found in plant-based foods such as beans, whole grains and green vegetables -- is also a common part of the diet.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

Sorcinelli, aided by 11 seamstresses, displayed the green silk forming the basis of Leo's vestment for Rimini, rolling out the sumptuous fabric onto a long table.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

It was curious how the human tracks followed the seam between Progress and Peace—a path as wide as a tree is tall, where the green light met the blue.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

A year ago, Green was instrumental in killing off the annual "most dismal town" Carbuncle award when he refused to accept it on behalf of Port Glasgow.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

"We very much hope that audiences and artists in the Netherlands can continue to be represented in the Eurovision Song Contest," said Green.

From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026

“The Green Deal had been a central focus of Europe,” said Daniel Yergin, a veteran energy historian and vice chairman of S&P Global.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

"The community is going to have to support each other - and these are ideal spaces to do that, currently sitting derelict. We need to put them to use," Green said.

From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026

Sitting to her left was the mysterious professor who had whispered in her ear, and to her right was Professor Green looking smug about something.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Nitrate is found naturally in many vegetables, especially beetroot and leafy greens such as spinach, rocket, and lettuce.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

Here’s how one of L.A.’s freshest new restaurants makes grains, greens and veggies sing — and how home cooks can replicate its grain bowls and salads.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

Growing venture capital–backed consumer brands, like Blank Street Coffee and dentist office Tend, traded in neons for pastel greens.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

Instead of cooking the pasta separately, Meghan puts it directly on top of tomatoes with some lemon zest and greens, then pours boiling water over the whole mixture.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

I wished now I had not dug it all up—I could be having fresh greens right now.

From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien

But that focus on greener pastures is as persistent as the apparent blood feud between Texas and Tennessee.

From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2026

Participants who recycled, used reusable cups and containers, took public transportation, ate greener diets, or cycled to work were no less likely to support wider climate policies and collective action.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026

From building wind turbines to reinforcing power grids for rising demand from electric cars, transitioning from fossil fuels to greener economies will require a massive increase in metal extraction.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

You know the story: The pool got greener and greener.

From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2026

The dolphin look greener from there and you can see their stripes and their purple spots and you can see all of the school as they swim.

From "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway

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

In 2007, architect Carl Elefante expressed an idea that has since become a common provocation in the world of architecture: The greenest building is one that’s already built.

From Slate ● Jun. 3, 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

We had flown to Kumasi to visit the Department of Painting and Sculpture at KNUST, an expansive campus in the west of the city and probably the greenest university I have ever seen.

From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2024

I gawked about me like the greenest country lad as we were escorted to a massive square hall with a lead roof and high, arched windows.

From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood

Secrets of photosynthesis have been discovered at atomic level, shedding important new light on this plant super-power that greened the earth more than a billion years ago.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 4, 2024

A 2018 study on cleaning-and-greening vacant lots in neighborhoods with residents living below the poverty line found a 29 percent reduction in gun violence around lots that were greened with trees compared to vacant lots.

From National Geographic ● Oct. 9, 2023

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

But it wasn’t greening that had caused this collapse.

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026

Dantzler knew citrus greening as well as anyone.

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026

I did not return to the merry-go-round until the snow was gone and the grass was greening among the stumps.

From "Milkweed" by Jerry Spinelli

Related Words

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