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
Many of the homes that have collapsed were hundreds of feet away from the ocean’s shoreline when they were initially built, said Reide Corbett, the dean of the Coastal Studies Institute at East Carolina University.
—
Samantha Delouya, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025
In his nearly 20 years in Miami as dean of the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and of all things jazz in this town, Berg has proven his knack for bringing unexpected combinations of great artists together under one roof.
—Helena Alonso Paisley, Miami Herald, 4 Nov. 2025
Its meandering path took it over some of the warmest ocean water temperatures, said Claudia Benitez-Nelson, an oceanographer and senior associate dean at the University of South Carolina.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 2 Nov. 2025
Like Kilpatrick, Howard associate dean Ingrid Sturgis said the school is updating its site and would soon restore the specific reference to Terez.
—Kansas City Star, 31 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dean
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Samantha Delouya, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025
In his nearly 20 years in Miami as dean of the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and of all things jazz in this town, Berg has proven his knack for bringing unexpected combinations of great artists together under one roof.
—Helena Alonso Paisley, Miami Herald, 4 Nov. 2025
Its meandering path took it over some of the warmest ocean water temperatures, said Claudia Benitez-Nelson, an oceanographer and senior associate dean at the University of South Carolina.
—Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 2 Nov. 2025
Like Kilpatrick, Howard associate dean Ingrid Sturgis said the school is updating its site and would soon restore the specific reference to Terez.
—Kansas City Star, 31 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for dean
Cite this Entry
“Dean.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dean. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.
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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