greet

To greet someone is to say hello when you meet them, with words, a wave, a handshake or a hug. The doorman who greets you by name, the dog that greets you before your coat is off.

It is more formal than 'say hi', and it takes its object directly: you greet someone, never greet to someone. It lives in the passive with events rather than people — the news was greeted with silence, the plan was greeted by loud applause. Whatever meets you on arrival can greet you: a wall of hot air greeted us at the airport, a terrible smell greeted them in the hall. The noun is a greeting: a warm greeting, season's greetings, the greeting at the top of a letter. Greeting card is the shop word for a birthday or Christmas card.