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
About 700 miles away around the same time, a momentary greeting between New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at ground zero became a dayslong online uproar.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
“The idea was that as customers grew older, they would become more mature and we would be greeting our own future customers,” Whiteman said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Among them was Norway's Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, who laid flowers outside the palace and signed a book of condolences after greeting the new king, said the country was "united in grief and gratitude".
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
With a flush of embarrassment, she realized she was supposed to be greeting the Governor at that very moment.
From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat
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
The two came up with a bold redesign — bright colors to attract motorists and greetings in four languages to honor the surrounding Navajo, Zuni, Acoma and Laguna communities.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
As bells rang out across the Vatican and the crowd applauded, Leo concluded his blessing by offering Easter greetings in several languages, including Latin, Arabic and Chinese.
From BBC ● Apr. 5, 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.
