Meaning

A senior official in a college or university, who may be in charge of a division or faculty (for example, the dean of science) or have some other advisory or disciplinary function (for example, the dean of students)..

Definitions by Sense

1. A senior official in a college or university, who may be in charge of a division or faculty (for example, the dean of science) or have some other advisory or disciplinary function (for example, the dean of students).
2. A dignitary or presiding officer in certain church bodies, especially an ecclesiastical dignitary, subordinate to a bishop, in charge of a chapter of canons.
3. The senior member of some group of people.
4. (intransitive, rare) To serve as a dean.
5. (transitive, Oxbridge, otherwise rare, informal) To send (a student) to see the dean of a college or university.
6. (Sussex, chiefly in place names) A hill.
7. (Northumbria, chiefly in place names) Alternative form of dene.

Example Sentences

Lucretius versus the Lake Poets ' Nature I loved ; and next to Nature , Art . ' Dean , adult education may seem silly . What of it though ? I got some willy - nilly The other evening at your college deanery . And grateful for it ( Let's not be facetious!)[…]

dean of the diplomatic corps - a country's most senior ambassador

dean of the House - the longest-serving member of a legislature

All of the switchboard operators had been parties to it, including Marie Willis. Their dean, Alice Hart, collected[…]

Word Forms

• deans
• deaning
• deaned

Synonyms for dean

Related Words

When Should You Use Dean?

Use dean when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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