greeting
Americannoun
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greetings
plural
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the act or words of a person who greets.
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a friendly message from someone who is absent.
a greeting from a friend in another country.
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greetings, an expression of friendly or respectful regard.
Send my greetings to your family.
noun
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the act or an instance of welcoming or saluting on meeting
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(often plural)
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an expression of friendly salutation
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( as modifier )
a greetings card
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of greeting
before 900; Middle English, Old English gretinge. See greet 1, -ing 1
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:
In the ’80s — before a text message counted as a greeting — he shared meals and dinner conversation with our family.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
After watching the undercover footage of Bechi smiling and greeting supporters at an event in March, she tears up and says: "It's like nothing ever happened."
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
With barely a greeting to the rest of the musicians, he starts to sing, challenging their earsplitting guitars with his lacerating sneers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Local pensioner Kevin Bridgeman said he would have no hesitation greeting Trump if their paths crossed.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
Ella tried to distract herself by cleaning up the cages and greeting the different birds, but her thoughts swarmed in her head.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
She remains awed that the show’s viewers — most of whom don’t agree with her politics — have acknowledged her personal milestones with warm greetings and homemade gifts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
New employee interactions will encourage energetic greetings, for example, like “Enjoy your meal!” and “See you soon!”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Over the following year, the two continued to exchange greetings, ideas and invitations.
From Salon ● May 19, 2026
In the mornings, Christine eagerly awaits the brightly colored, highly vocal birds swooping into their garden, whooping their greetings before flying off into the junglelike foliage.
From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2026
There were many people in the street now, calling greetings to one another as they set out for their work.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
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.
