mainframe
Americannoun
noun
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a high-speed general-purpose computer, usually with a large storage capacity
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( as modifier )
mainframe systems
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the central processing unit of a computer
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A large, often powerful computer, usually dedicated to lengthy, complex calculations or set up for use by many people simultaneously.
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Compare personal computer
Etymology
Origin of mainframe
Compare meaning
How does mainframe compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Vocabulary lists containing mainframe
Computer Science and Technology - Middle School
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Computer Science and Technology - High School
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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.
They include a nugget from the California gold rush; an 1879 lightbulb by Thomas Edison; a mainframe component from ENIAC, the first general-purpose electronic computer that was built in 1946 and weighed 30 tons.
From Barron's • May 29, 2026
“It was a shot to the heart and the chest and the mainframe with Luka,” James told reporters.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026
“The mainframe serves as the backbone for the world’s largest enterprises managing the most complex and critical workloads,” Woodring wrote, ticking off banking systems, airline reservations, and transaction processing as a few examples.
From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026
He views the mainframe business as “resilient” given examples from IBM of how customers are growing, not shrinking, their workloads.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 24, 2026
Once a program was ready, you walked over to whatever mainframe computer you had access to and gave the stack of cards to an operator.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
