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Synonyms

laptop

American  
[lap-top] / ˈlæpˌtɒp /

noun

  1. a portable computer, usually battery-powered, small enough to rest on the user's lap and having a screen that closes over the keyboard like a lid.

laptop British  
/ ˈlæpˌtɒp /

noun

  1. a personal computer that is small and light enough to be operated on the user's lap Compare palmtop computer

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
laptop Cultural  

  1. A portable, compact personal computer that can run on a battery.

Etymology

Origin of laptop

First recorded in 1980–85; lap 1 + top 1

Explanation

Laptop is short for laptop computer. The big computer on your desk is a desktop, and the small one on your lap is a laptop. See what they did there? Now shoo that lapdog and get to work! There are other kinds of portable computers, but a laptop usually has a screen that folds over the keyboard when you’re not using it. The earliest versions of laptops were made in the 1970s, and they've become lighter, thinner, more portable, and much more popular since then. The word laptop was coined in 1984, based on — you guessed it — desktop, which describes the heavier, non-portable computer.

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Vocabulary lists containing laptop

Computer Science and Technology - Introductory

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Units 2–3

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Computer Terms

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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.

Analysts anticipate Best Buy’s sales could falter as rising memory costs increase laptop and computer prices.

From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026

After Cayden McBride finishes class in Rome, Georgia, the 19-year-old goes home, opens his laptop, and starts searching.

From BBC • Apr. 11, 2026

The post had started far longer, over 4,000 words, when Ackman first typed on a laptop from his Manhattan home, and he cut it back after getting feedback from two readers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

Onlookers said that, as several flight attendants tried to stir Lyonne, removed her laptop and asked if she needed medical attention, she seemed out of it, and asked, “Where are we?”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 2026

He points at something on his laptop screen.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

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.