David

[ dey-vid for 1, 2, 6; Dutch dah-vuht for 3, 6 French da-veed for 4, 6; Spanish dah-veeth for 5 ]

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

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

  1. Ge·rard [gey-rahrt], /ˈgeɪ rɑrt/, 1460?–1523, Flemish artist.

  2. Jacques Louis [zhahk lwee], /ʒɑk lwi/, 1748–1825, French painter.

  3. a city in SW Panama.

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

Words Nearby David

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use David in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for David

David

/ (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)

  1. (French david) 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

  2. 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

Cultural definitions for David (1 of 2)

David

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.

Notes for David

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

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.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.