d(isk) o(perating) s(ystem)
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Since IBM chose an Intel CPU for its first PC in 1980, chips based around the x86 architecture have run Microsoft DOS and Windows PCs.
From Barron's • Jun. 2, 2026
Decart has two main business lines, the fastest-growing of which is known as the Decart Optimization Stack, or DOS.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
PS: if the thought of installing Windows 98 from DOS is too intimidating, you’re in luck.
From The Verge • Jul. 11, 2022
We’d still be staring at DOS prompts on monochrome screens.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 20, 2021
On IBM PCs under DOS, refers to a specific failure mode in which a screen saver has kicked in over an ill-behaved application which bypasses the very interrupts the screen saver watches for activity.
From The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Steele, Guy L.
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.
