URL

American  

abbreviation

Computers.

1. Uniform Resource Locator: a protocol for specifying addresses on the internet.

2. an address that identifies a particular file on the internet, usually consisting of the protocol, as http, followed by the domain name.

---

URL British  

abbreviation

1. uniform resource locator; a standardized address of a location on the internet, esp on the World Wide Web

---

URL Scientific  

/ yo̅o̅′är-ĕl′ /

1. Short for Uniform Resource Locator. An Internet address (for example, http://www.hmco.com/trade/), usually consisting of the access protocol (http), the domain name (www.hmco.com), and optionally the path to a file or resource residing on that server (trade).

---

URL Cultural  

1. An abbreviation for U niversal R esource L ocator, a title that refers to the formal address of a document on the Internet.

---

Etymology

Origin of URL

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

Buried under the icon next to every URL at the top of the browser, “About this page” was a product of a direct collaboration between Wineburg and engineers at Google.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026

The URL took young readers to extra content for the series until the website's content was switched.

From BBC • Oct. 9, 2025

Look for typosquatting in the URL of the attachment.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 11, 2025

On the new computer, I typed the URL Cathy provided me into the browser.

From Slate • Aug. 4, 2025

Then I disable my browser’s history, and type in the URL with trembling fingers.

From "Legend" by Marie Lu