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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

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Etymology

Origin of green

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

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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

Beijing’s $37 billion subsidy program is steering consumers toward smart gadgets and green technology.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026

Shares in German wind-turbine manufacturer Nordex NDX1 13.25%increase; green up pointing triangle jumped after it raised its full-year margin guidance and flagged improved third-quarter profitability.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

These can be seen on the tarmac at Kisangani's airport, dressed in green fatigues and carrying out maintenance on military aircraft.

From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026

Permanent residents and green card holders have also been affected.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 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

When Davante Adams wanted out from the Green Bay Packers, he was sent to the Raiders where he had a 1,500-yard season playing with former Fresno State teammate Derek Carr.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

The electric ride hailing service Green SM, founded in Vietnam in 2023, is making its first entry into the U.S. market in Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

Mr. Green is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Free Expression columnist at WSJ Opinion.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Injuries to Cameron Green and Josh Inglis meant a first Test in 10 years for Nic Maddinson.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 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

The “slop bowl” became internet shorthand for the familiar fast-casual mash-up — grains, greens, globally inspired protein, sauce, perhaps an avocado surcharge — assembled with the logic of a cafeteria line and an over-$10 price.

From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026

The Englishwoman still could not buy a birdie putt on the slow greens but she never gave her opponent a sniff.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

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

Leafy greens of bushes and trees ran together outside their car.

From "Habibi" by Naomi Shihab Nye

"We need greener, fairer supply chains that take into account workers' issues and wages."

From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026

"There are so many brilliant things happening in our communities to make them greener, healthier and more resilient," West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker said.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

No matter how many commitments data-center operators make to safer, quieter, greener innovations, recent history has convinced many communities not to trust any of them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

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

From Salon ● Aug. 3, 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

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

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

“The color brings out your eyes. Not that they need it. They’re the greenest thing I’ve seen today. Like a piece of spring.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

The persistent heat will dry out vegetation and increase the chance of fires in grass-dominated areas that greened up after the plentiful rains this winter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2026

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

Often, that's good news—the events have ended droughts, refilled reservoirs, and greened rolling hills.

From National Geographic ● Jan. 25, 2024

At Fort Young, restorations have strengthened and greened the property, and eco-certification efforts began in earnest this year.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 15, 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

About a decade ago, with greening pushing him toward bankruptcy, Rucks began diversifying: blueberries, bamboo, ornamental plants.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

All of these took a toll on the industry, but none of them proved as ruinous as citrus greening, a disease that clogs trees’ vascular systems, choking off water and nutrients.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

The track is one piece of a major greening project at the Westlake school that students, teachers and community leaders celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

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

So far, frosted food was brought from Earth in flying icicles; a few community gardens were greening up in hydroponic plants.

From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury

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Related Words

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

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