browser
Americannoun
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a person or thing that browses.
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Digital Technology. a software program that allows the user to find and read encoded documents in a form suitable for display, especially such a program for use on the internet.
You may need to pause internet security features and refresh the page in your web browser to play the embedded videos.
noun
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a person or animal that browses
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computing a software package that enables a user to find and read hypertext files, esp on the Internet
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of browser
browse ( def. ) + -er 1 ( def. ); browser def. 1 was first recorded in 1680–90, and browser def. 2 in 1980–85
Explanation
A browser is a looker: either a program that lets you surf the Internet or a person in a store who just looks around without buying. This is a word that has to do with looking around, otherwise known as browsing. You probably use web browsers, which allow you to see websites on a computer. But you could also be a browser if you go to a store and just look around. Being a browser is a good way to kill time, but as soon as you make a purchase, you've gone from being a browser to being a customer.
Vocabulary lists containing browser
Computer Science and Technology - Introductory
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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.
Gemini in Chrome, Comet from Perplexity and Dia from the Browser Company also all became free to a wider audience recently.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 23, 2025
They include Google services like Maps, YouTube, the Chrome browser and Android operating system, plus Amazon’s Marketplace and Apple’s Safari Browser and iOS.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 5, 2024
In the first couple days after using ChatGPT, the advanced chatbot from OpenAI, I felt the same way I did when I first downloaded the Mosaic Web Browser in the early '90s.
From Salon • May 30, 2023
Mayor Muriel Browser Washington, D.C., predicted the new campus would be “catalytic” for boosting development at D.C.’s northern end following a COVID-19 slump in office activity.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 15, 2023
But for Browser, the moose-calf, she pulled the tender twigs and foliage with a lavish hand.
From A Daughter of the Forest by Raymond, Evelyn
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.