# green

Pronunciation: say "GREEN" US /ɡɹin/, UK/AUS /ɡɹiːn/

## Adjective

1. Having a color like that of growing grass or healthy leaves.
   - Simple: Having the color of grass or leaves.
   - _A row of green shutters brightened the old stone house._
   - _The pond looked almost green under the heavy summer shade._
3. Designed or chosen to avoid harming the environment; environmentally friendly.
   - Simple: Good for the earth and not harmful to nature.
   - _The city introduced green building codes to cut energy waste._
   - _Shoppers increasingly favor green packaging made from recycled material._
4. Covered by grass, trees, or other vegetation instead of buildings or bare earth.
   - Simple: With grass, trees, or plants growing on it, not buildings or bare dirt.
   - _Developers want to build houses on the last green fields at the edge of town._
   - _An hour north of the city, the parking lots gave way to green countryside._
5. Marked by the color green to show a status such as correct, ready, or safe.
   - Simple: Marked as correct, ready, or safe using the color green.
   - _Every indicator on the control panel went green just before takeoff._
   - _The test results came back green, so the build was cleared to ship._
9. Not yet ripe; said of certain fruits that change color as they mature.
   - Simple: Not yet ripe, said of fruit that changes color as it ripens.
   - _We picked the mangoes while they were still green and let them ripen at home._
   - _A green peach offers little of the sweetness it will develop in a week._
10. Relating to a green political party or to its environmentalist aims.
   - Simple: Belonging to or supporting an environmental political party.
   - _The green movement gained broad support after the flooding._
   - _Voters backed the green agenda in record numbers this year._
12. Lacking experience or training; new to a particular activity or role.
   - Simple: New to a job or task and without much skill or experience yet.
   - _The foreman paired the green apprentices with seasoned workers._
   - _Fresh out of school, she was green but eager to learn the trade._
16. Consumed by envy of what another person has or has achieved.
   - Simple: Filled with envy because someone else has something you want.
   - _When her sister landed the job she had wanted for years, she was green with envy, though she tried hard to hide it._
   - _He went green with envy as his rival lifted the trophy._
17. Pale and unwell in appearance, as from nausea or sickness.
   - Simple: Pale and sick-looking, often in the face.
   - _After three hours at sea, the passengers all looked decidedly green._
   - _He went green the moment the plane hit heavy turbulence._
21. Of wood or lumber: freshly cut and not yet dried, so it still holds moisture and bends more readily.
   - Simple: Used about wood that has just been cut and is still wet, so it bends easily.
   - _Green timber warps as it dries, so builders let it season before use._
   - _The carpenter rejected the planks because they were still green._
23. Full of life and vigor; fresh, new, and youthful.
   - Simple: Full of life and energy, fresh, new, and not faded.
   - _The memory of that summer remained green for decades._
   - _His passion for the work stayed green well into his nineties._

## Noun

2. The color of grass and leaves, between yellow and blue, or a paint, dye, or other substance of that color.
   - Simple: The color of grass and leaves, or paint or dye of that color.
   - _The walls were a soft green that calmed the whole room._
   - _Painters mix blue and yellow to make green._
6. A vegetable grown for its edible leaves, such as kale, spinach, or lettuce, which may be served raw or cooked.
   - Simple: A plant with leaves that people eat as a vegetable, cooked or raw, like spinach or lettuce.
   - _She sautéed the greens with garlic and finished them with a squeeze of lemon._
   - _Arugula is a peppery green that adds bite to a simple salad._
7. A signal light shown in green, indicating permission to proceed.
   - Simple: A signal light shown in green that tells you it is safe to go.
   - _The driver waited for the green before pulling away from the intersection._
   - _Pedestrians stepped off the curb as soon as the green appeared._
8. The closely mown area of a golf course surrounding the hole, where players putt.
   - Simple: The smooth, grassy area around the hole on a golf course.
   - _She read the slope of the green carefully before lining up her putt._
   - _His approach shot landed softly on the green and rolled toward the cup._
11. An area of open grassy land, especially a public one at the center of a village or town.
   - Simple: A piece of grassy land, especially an open space in the middle of a village where people meet.
   - _Sheep drifted slowly across the green toward the far hedge._
   - _A broad green stretched from the riverbank to the foot of the hills._
15. A member of a green political party; a person who supports environmentalism.
   - Simple: A person who belongs to an environmental political party, or anyone who works to protect nature.
   - _A Green on the city council argued for better public transit._
   - _Greens across the region formed an alliance ahead of the vote._
18. Fresh leaves or branches of trees and plants, especially gathered for wreaths and decoration.
   - Simple: Fresh leaves and branches used for decoration.
   - _Fresh greens and red ribbon covered the mantel in the front parlor._
   - _Every December the villagers cut greens in the forest to decorate the church._
19. Money, particularly cash in the form of paper bills. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: Money, especially paper bills you can spend.
   - _They were short on green after the rent came due._
   - _He made serious green selling cars all summer._
20. Short for green room: the room in a theater or studio where performers wait and relax before, between or after appearances. *(colloquial)* — Ellipsis of green room.
   - Simple: Short for green room: the room where performers wait and relax before and after a show.
24. Marijuana, especially the dried, smokable leaves and flowers of the cannabis plant. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Marijuana, the dried plant some people smoke.
   - _She bought a bag of green from a friend at the party._
   - _He smoked some green before the concert and laughed through the whole show._
25. In snooker, one of the colored balls, carrying a value of three points.
   - Simple: In snooker, the ball worth three points.
   - _Potting the green earned him three crucial points._
   - _He missed the green and left it hanging over the pocket._
26. The playing area for a game of bowls, across which the bowls are rolled.
   - Simple: The piece of ground where people play the game of bowls.
   - _Her first bowl curled gently across the green and stopped inches from the jack._
   - _The bowls club spent the winter re-turfing both of its greens._

## Verb

13. To become green, or to make something green or greener.
   - Simple: To turn green, or to make something turn green.
   - _Meadows green within days of the spring thaw._
   - _The landscape greens noticeably after a week of steady rain._
14. To make something, or to become, more environmentally friendly or more concerned about the environment.
   - Simple: To change something, or to change yourself, so as to do less harm to nature.
   - _The mayor pledged to green the city's energy supply within a decade._
   - _Engineers redesigned the plant to green its production process._
22. To add parks, gardens, and other green spaces to a town or city.
   - Simple: To add parks and grassy spaces to a town.
   - _Urban designers aim to green the city with rooftop gardens and pocket parks._
   - _The new policy will green neglected neighborhoods over the next five years._

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Of a cricket pitch: holding significant moisture, even when no grass is visible on the surface.
- (adjective) Of academic publishing: made free to read by the author posting a version of the work, as in a repository, sometimes after an embargo.
- (adjective) Relating to or associated with Islamism and Islamist political movements.
- (noun) In particle physics, one of the three kinds of color charge that a quark can carry.
- (adjective) Easily fooled, or not aware of things that most people already know.
- (adjective) Of bacon or other cured pork: left raw, without smoking or added spices.
- (adjective) Only partly roasted, so still half uncooked.
- (adjective) Of motion-picture film: newly developed, with its coating not yet fully hardened.
- (adjective) Of wine: sharp-tasting because it has a high or excessive level of acid.
- (adjective) Sexually suggestive, crude, or vulgar in content.
- (adjective) Of a quark: carrying the color charge named after this hue.
- (adjective) Belonging to or concerning the special exchange rates once used to convert farm prices in the European Union.
- (adjective) Of a part made by pressing metal powder: shaped but not yet heated, or sintered, to make it strong.
- (interjection) Said to signal that one wants sexual activity to begin, or to go on after a pause.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–12, 15–21, 23–26** — From Middle English grene, from Old English grēne, going back through Proto-West Germanic *grōnī and Proto-Germanic *grōniz to the Proto-Indo-European root *gʰreh₁- ("to grow"). It is related to "grow" and to words like Dutch groen and German grün.
**Meanings 13–14, 22** — The verb was formed in Germanic from the adjective green. Proto-Germanic *grōnijōną led to Proto-West Germanic *grōnijan and Old English grēnian, which meant "to become green, flourish," and then to Middle English grenen. German grünen and Icelandic gróna are relatives.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/green (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).