download
Americanverb (used with object)
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downloads,
present (3rd person singular)
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downloaded,
past participle, past
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downloading
present participle
noun
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downloads
plural
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software, data, etc., that has been downloaded.
the best free music downloads.
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the act or process of downloading.
verb
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to copy or transfer (data or a program) into the memory of one computer system from a larger one
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to broadcast specialist programmes, for such groups as doctors, outside normal broadcasting hours. They are often recorded on video tapes and viewed later Compare upload
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to delegate or assign (work, responsibilities, costs, etc) to a someone at a lower level of an organization; off-load
noun
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To transfer data or programs from a server or host computer to one's own computer or digital device.
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Compare upload
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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downloadsimple
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downloadssimple
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have downloadedperfect
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has downloadedperfect
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am downloadingprogressive
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are downloadingprogressive
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is downloadingprogressive
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have been downloadingperfect progressive
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has been downloadingperfect progressive
Past
-
downloadedsimple
-
had downloadedperfect
-
was downloadingprogressive
-
were downloadingprogressive
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had been downloadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of download
Explanation
When you've got files on one computer that you need to transfer onto another, you'll need to download or copy the data onto a portable drive to move it. Back before the internet brought the world to our fingers, the word download was used mainly to describe the process of copying files or data from one computer to another. But these days, you can download or copy, just about anything from the internet — from music to movies to books. Another thing you can download, if you aren't careful, is a virus, so be wary before you go transferring all kinds of files to your computer.
Vocabulary lists containing download
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.
See Examples For:
For more tips, download the Red Cross’ free mobile emergency app.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Suno lets users download what they make and release it elsewhere, with download caps and watermarks meant to curb abuse; songs made with its new models can be distributed through Believe and TuneCore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Now you can too. iOS 27, which includes Siri AI, is ready to download.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
"Any message asking a job seeker to download an app to participate in an interview is not legitimate."
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
While eating, I download an audiobook on meditation for beginners.
From "We Are Okay" by Nina LaCour
According to data from Sensor Tower, Muse reached 1.43 million downloads in the 12 days following its launch, compared with OpenAI’s ChatGPT at 1.37 million and Gemini at 0.71 million.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Digital downloads accounted for nearly 82 percent of game sales on the PS4 and PS5 at the start of 2026, Sony said in late July.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
Market intelligence firm Sensor Tower said other Bird ID apps have also been used more - such as Birda, which it says has had 31% more downloads this year.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
In May, the number of downloads was about 59,729.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Now sitting in my downloads, blinking at me.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
Open-weight models are those whose parameters, or variables learned and adjusted during training, can be downloaded, run or modified by different developers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
The 50-person figure would be more appropriate for those who received a particular document, and the universe of people who actually opened or downloaded it would be even smaller — perhaps 10 or fewer.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
One victim was invited on LinkedIn by a fake recruiter to take part in a job interview process and downloaded a normal-looking document which turned out to be malicious software.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Young people across the country downloaded Snapchat as a way to send each other pictures that quickly disappeared.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
The instant I head back to my room and close my door, I bring up all of my downloaded info on the players and display it on my wall.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
Word of warning: It’s not worth writing a will on the cheap or downloading one from the Internet.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 21, 2026
Hundreds of thousands responded by downloading the app; by Monday, MapQuest had climbed to No. 1 among navigation apps in Apple’s U.S.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
The airline is going back to one mile per dollar spent at the coffee chain from its current setup where you get miles for downloading money to your Starbucks Rewards card.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Cloud gaming allows players to stream and play games online from a remote server using a phone, tablet or controller, rather than downloading and running it on a PC or console at home.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Apart from movies, weekends were constructed around some new Net or Web project—trying out a just-purchased game, downloading new software, collecting and listening to music, installing a new operating system.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
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.
