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David

American  
[dey-vid, dah-vuht, da-veed, dah-veeth] / ˈdeɪ vɪd, ˈdɑ vət, daˈvid, dɑˈvið /

noun

  1. died c970 b.c., the second king of Israel, reigned c1010–c970, successor to Saul: slayer of the Philistine giant Goliath.

  2. Also called Dewi Sant.  Saint. a.d. c510–601?, Welsh bishop: patron saint of Wales.

  3. Gerard 1460?–1523, Flemish artist.

  4. Jacques Louis 1748–1825, French painter.

  5. a city in SW Panama.

  6. a male given name: from a Hebrew word meaning “beloved.”

David British  
/ ˈdeɪvɪd /

noun

  1. the second king of the Hebrews (about 1000–962 bc ), who united Israel as a kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital

  2. Elizabeth . 1914–92, British cookery writer. Her books include Mediterranean Food (1950) and An Omelette and a Glass of Wine (1984)

  3. Jacques Louis (ʒɑk lwi). 1748–1825, French neoclassical painter of such works as the Oath of the Horatii (1784), Death of Socrates (1787), and The Intervention of the Sabine Women (1799). He actively supported the French Revolution and became court painter to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804; banished at the Bourbon restoration

  4. Saint . 6th century ad , Welsh bishop; patron saint of Wales. Feast day: March 1

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
David 1 Cultural  

  1. A great king of the Israelites in the Old Testament. David was a shepherd in his boyhood. As a youth, he asked for King Saul's permission to fight Goliath, the giant Philistine warrior whom all the other Israelites were afraid to face. Despite his small size, David managed to kill Goliath by hitting him in the forehead with a stone flung from a sling. King Saul then gave David command of his army, but he grew jealous of him and tried to kill him; David spent many years fleeing from Saul. After Saul's death, David was made king of the Israelites and served nobly, despite occasional lapses, such as an affair with Bathsheba; he had Bathsheba's husband killed so that he could marry her. Many of the Psalms are attributed to David, who was famed as a harpist. His descendants, the House of David, included Solomon and the subsequent kings of Israel and Judah; according to the Gospels, Jesus was descended from David.

David 2 Cultural  

  1. A large marble statue made by Michelangelo of the biblical king David. Michelangelo portrays him as a youth just about to do battle with the giant Goliath.

Discover More

A “David and Goliath” contest is an unequal one in which one side is far bigger or more numerous than the other.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"I know these people", she said of the strike victims, "people we know, neighbours, like family. It's simply a terrible day", Ben David said.

From Barron's

Mr. Gore doggedly sold his Reinventing Government effort, even going on David Letterman’s late-night TV show.

From The Wall Street Journal

Professor David Bailey from Birmingham Business School said there was a "low volume crisis" in the UK car industry at the moment, with output at a 70-year low.

From BBC

The Princess of Wales has for the first time delivered a video message entirely in Welsh to mark St David's Day.

From BBC

Hugo Reinhold, the Swiss guy, and David Dano, the Israeli, raced out in front of me early on, but they never got out of my sight.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.