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
Benjamin Edwards, associate dean at the University of Nevada Las Vegas Boyd School of Law, said one reason Nevada appeals to companies is that corporate law there clearly states when executives or board members will be held liable should bad things happen on their watch.
—
Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 14 Nov. 2025
In a different time, the BBC episode would likely have led to a quick admission of a mistake, a correction, apology and everyone would have moved on, said Mark Lukasiewicz, a former NBC News executive and now dean of Hofstra University’s School of Communication.
—David Bauder, Fortune, 12 Nov. 2025
Germanic studies professor Ben Robinson was punished after a dean found an anonymous complaint had merit — though Robinson claims an investigation never occurred.
—Cate Charron, IndyStar, 11 Nov. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for dean
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Lora Kolodny, CNBC, 14 Nov. 2025
In a different time, the BBC episode would likely have led to a quick admission of a mistake, a correction, apology and everyone would have moved on, said Mark Lukasiewicz, a former NBC News executive and now dean of Hofstra University’s School of Communication.
—David Bauder, Fortune, 12 Nov. 2025
Germanic studies professor Ben Robinson was punished after a dean found an anonymous complaint had merit — though Robinson claims an investigation never occurred.
—Cate Charron, IndyStar, 11 Nov. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for dean
Cite this Entry
“Dean.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dean. Accessed 16 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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