Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Of the color between blue and yellow in the spectrum; similar to the color of fresh grass: The basic color meaning.
   • Pale or sickly in appearance: Describing a complexion, often due to illness or nausea.
   • Inexperienced, naive, or easily deceived: Referring to a lack of maturity or knowledge.
   • Not fully developed or mature; not ripe: Used for fruits, vegetables, or wood.
   • Concerned with or supporting environmentalism: Relating to the principles of the Green political movement.

2. Noun:

   • The color itself; green color or pigment.
   • A piece of grassy land: Specifically, the smooth grassy area surrounding the hole on a golf course.
   • Leafy plants or their parts eaten as vegetables: Often used in the plural form 'greens'.
   • A member or supporter of an environmentalist party, especially the Green Party.

3. Verb:

   • To become or make green in color.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:

  • The garden is full of green plants. (Describing color)
  • She felt seasick and looked a bit green. (Describing complexion)
  • He's still green and needs more training. (Describing inexperience)
  • These bananas are too green to eat. (Describing unripeness)
  • Green policies focus on sustainability.* (Describing environmental concern)

• Noun:

  • Green is my favorite color.* (The color)
  • The golfer carefully putted the ball across the green. (Golf course area)
  • For dinner, we had fish and leafy greens. (Vegetables)
  • The Greens won several seats in the election. (Political party members)

• Verb:

  • The hills will green again after the spring rains. (To become green)

Advanced Usage

• "to be green with envy": To be very jealous.

  • She was green with envy when she saw her friend's new car.

• "to have a green thumb" (US) / "green fingers" (UK): To be skilled at gardening.

  • My grandmother has a green thumb; her garden is always beautiful.

• "the green light": Permission to proceed with a project or action.

  • The committee gave our project the green light.

Variants and Related Words

• Greenish (adj): Somewhat green.

  • The paint had a greenish tint.

• Greenness (n): The quality or state of being green.

  • The greenness of the valley in spring was breathtaking.

• Greenery (n): Green foliage or plants collectively.

  • The room was decorated with lots of greenery.

Synonyms

• Adjective (color): Verdant, emerald, lime.
• Adjective (inexperienced): Inexperienced, untrained, raw, callow.
• Adjective (unripe): Unripe, immature.
• Noun (area): Lawn, sward, turf.

Related Phrases and Phrasal Verbs

• Green up: To make an area more environmentally friendly or to become green with vegetation.
  • The city plans to green up the vacant lot by planting trees.

Related Idioms

• "Green around the gills": Looking pale and sickly, especially from nausea.

  • After the rough boat ride, several passengers were looking green around the gills.

• "Do you see any green in my eye?": A rhetorical question implying "Do you think I'm that naive or gullible?"

  • He tried to sell me that old story, but do you see any green in my eye?

Verb

1. turn or become green
   • The trees are greening

Noun

1. street names for ketamine
2. any of various leafy plants or their leaves and stems eaten as vegetables
3. an area of closely cropped grass surrounding the hole on a golf course
   • the ball rolled across the green and into the bunker
4. a river that rises in western Wyoming and flows southward through Utah to become a tributary of the Colorado River
5. an environmentalist who belongs to the Green Party
6. United States labor leader who was president of the American Federation of Labor from 1924 to 1952 and who led the struggle with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (1873-1952)
7. a piece of open land for recreational use in an urban area
   • they went for a walk in the park
8. green color or pigment; resembling the color of growing grass

Adjective

1. naive and easily deceived or tricked
   • at that early age she had been gullible and in love
2. looking pale and unhealthy
   • you're looking green
   • green around the gills
3. not fully developed or mature; not ripe
   • unripe fruit
   • fried green tomatoes
   • green wood
4. concerned with or supporting or in conformity with the political principles of the Green Party
5. of the color between blue and yellow in the color spectrum; similar to the color of fresh grass
   • a green tree
   • green fields
   • green paint