1
a
: the head of the chapter of a collegiate or cathedral church
b
: a Roman Catholic priest who supervises one district of a diocese
2
a
: the head of a division, faculty, college, or school of a university
b
: a college or secondary school administrator in charge of counseling and disciplining students
3
dean
intransitive verb
Examples of dean in a Sentence
She's the dean of the university's business school.
the dean of liberal arts
Recent Examples on the Web
Pity Chris Summerlin, the dean of students at the University of Florida.
—
Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic, 26 Jan. 2026
In her place, the university temporarily installed Katrina Armstrong, the medical school dean who was rumored to be a finalist for the permanent position.
—Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 26 Jan. 2026
Ultimately hailing from Philadelphia’s Drexel University, the former Westphal College dean is known for developing a novel apprenticeship model with the locally leading conglomerate, URBN.
—Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 23 Jan. 2026
Drell has been a professor at Stanford since 2002, serving as the dean of the engineering school from 2014 to 2017 and as Stanford’s provost from 2017 to 2023.
—Kif Leswing, CNBC, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dean
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Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic, 26 Jan. 2026
In her place, the university temporarily installed Katrina Armstrong, the medical school dean who was rumored to be a finalist for the permanent position.
—Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 26 Jan. 2026
Ultimately hailing from Philadelphia’s Drexel University, the former Westphal College dean is known for developing a novel apprenticeship model with the locally leading conglomerate, URBN.
—Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 23 Jan. 2026
Drell has been a professor at Stanford since 2002, serving as the dean of the engineering school from 2014 to 2017 and as Stanford’s provost from 2017 to 2023.
—Kif Leswing, CNBC, 23 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dean
Cite this Entry
“Dean.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dean. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
dean
noun1
: the head of the chapter of a cathedral church
2
a
: the head of a division, faculty, college, or school of a university
b
: a college or secondary school administrator in charge of counseling or disciplining students
3
: the senior member of a group
the dean of the diplomatic corps
Biographical Definition
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