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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.
Synonyms

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.


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.

    1. green material or clothing.

      to be dressed in green.

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

  4. 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.

  5. grassy land; a plot of grassy ground.

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

  7. Also called putting greenGolf. the area of closely cropped grass surrounding each hole.

  8. bowling green.

  9. a shooting range for archery.

  10. Informal. green light.

  11. Slang. Usually the green money; greenbacks.

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

  12. 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.


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

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Adjectives

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

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.

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing green

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.

See Examples For:

Not your typical work lunch, to be sure, but in these atypical times, it ain’t easy staying green.

From Slate Jul. 17, 2026

Ronaldo suffered a convulsion earlier in the day but was given the green light to start for Mario Zagallo's side.

From BBC Jul. 17, 2026

"We're switching to green energy, coal is over," he adds.

From Barron's Jul. 17, 2026

A San Ysidro man is accused of a fake green card scheme, impersonating ICE agents and defrauding Orange County residents, prosecutors say.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 16, 2026

“Oh, wonderful. Let me guess. Follow the green light until I supposedly end up in a place that is not here?”

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

It is also understood the Green Party does pay for some private security for its leader.

From BBC Jul. 17, 2026

She is an award-winning travel and adventure writer living in Vermont's Green Mountains.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 15, 2026

Unfortunately, Green never notched another one at a major international tournament again.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 14, 2026

The package is in addition to the £25m emergency fund announced in April after the Golders Green attack.

From BBC Jul. 13, 2026

“You know what, Green Man?” she said to the Huntsman.

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley

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

The 37-year-old from Northern Ireland drove the ball superbly, but struggled on the greens which were a little bumpy given all the foot traffic that had gone before him.

From BBC Jul. 16, 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

This picture was different from her usual ones, drawn with thin lines of color, greens and yellows, instead of thick peat lines.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff

A new report from the London People's Assembly on Food, Nature and the Right to Grow outlines 12 demands to make the capital "greener and more edible" by 2035.

From BBC Jul. 14, 2026

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

It was a fine morning for hunting, with the air still and the rising sun shining bright on the tall green grass and the greener leaves of the timber.

From "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson

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

Rather, it reflects a 21st-century understanding of the environmental movement, one that recognizes that an existing neighborhood is the greenest place for housing to be built.

From Slate Jul. 2, 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

The organising committee of Paris 2024 has vowed to make it the greenest Games in Olympic history, with half the carbon footprint of London 2012 and Rio 2016.

From BBC Jul. 23, 2024

Some of us could be jealous, and the greenest of all was Miranda Gibbler.

From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez

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

Some research has found that greening projects are contagious: Neighbors of greened lots start taking better care of their own yards.

From National Geographic Dec. 14, 2023

And all the snowmelt has brilliantly greened what’s often a dry, brown tinder box by this time of year.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 11, 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

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

I asked numerous people—farmers and industry leaders and researchers—to estimate how many trees in Florida now have greening.

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

Cotton grew in the field that bounded the railroad tracks and the air was laden with the opulent smells of greening crops and leafy forests.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

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