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
Tian Feng, former dean of SenseTime’s Intelligence Industry Research Institute, revealed that the free provision of T800 robots will help smaller companies overcome research and development barriers.
—
Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 10 Feb. 2026
The plan would cap A grades at 20% of undergraduates, with some flexibility, across courses and departments if it’s approved by faculty ahead of the 2026-2027 school year, Amanda Claybaugh, dean of undergraduate education, said in an email on Friday that included a 19-page outline of the plan.
—Bloomberg News, Boston Herald, 7 Feb. 2026
With the support of her adviser, department chair and dean, Gnacinski decided to apply for the position.
—Kate Kealey, Des Moines Register, 6 Feb. 2026
But Rivers didn’t know that any of her prior work could translate into college credits until months after enrolling, when a college dean noticed her military and computer science experience.
—Calmatters, Daily News, 6 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for dean
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Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 10 Feb. 2026
The plan would cap A grades at 20% of undergraduates, with some flexibility, across courses and departments if it’s approved by faculty ahead of the 2026-2027 school year, Amanda Claybaugh, dean of undergraduate education, said in an email on Friday that included a 19-page outline of the plan.
—Bloomberg News, Boston Herald, 7 Feb. 2026
With the support of her adviser, department chair and dean, Gnacinski decided to apply for the position.
—Kate Kealey, Des Moines Register, 6 Feb. 2026
But Rivers didn’t know that any of her prior work could translate into college credits until months after enrolling, when a college dean noticed her military and computer science experience.
—Calmatters, Daily News, 6 Feb. 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 11 Feb. 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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