spreadsheet

American  

[spred-sheet] / ˈsprɛdˌʃit /

Or spread sheet

noun

• spreadsheets
  plural

1. Accounting. a worksheet that is arranged in the manner of a mathematical matrix and contains a multicolumn analysis of related entries for easy reference on a single sheet.

2. Digital Technology.

   1. a type of software that offers the user a visual display of a simulated multicolumn worksheet and the means of using it especially for financial plans and budgets.

   2. a single document created with this software.

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spreadsheet British  

/ ˈsprɛdˌʃiːt /

noun

1. a computer program that allows easy entry and manipulation of figures, equations, and text, used esp for financial planning and budgeting

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spreadsheet Cultural  

1. Table of data arranged in columns and rows often used in business and financial applications. Spreadsheet software programs are widely used computer applications that allow the user to organize large amounts of data.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• spreadsheets
  plural

Etymology

Origin of spreadsheet

First recorded in 1905–10; spread + sheet ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spreadsheet spreadsheets

He ended up at a film-production company, where he made a name for himself by building an online spreadsheet to track projects being developed at every studio.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

Instead, crypto exists on the blockchain, a kind of shared spreadsheet that anonymously records every transaction, and is “mined” digitally through the solving of complex math problems.

From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026

In the case of Great Britain rower Heidi Long, it takes a spreadsheet.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

But you can’t really get anywhere without looking at real numbers, and that means sitting down with a budgeting system, whether it’s your own spreadsheet or some software.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

But Eddie puts them into a very organized file on her computer called a spreadsheet, highlighting pieces of the interviews that are contradictory.

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

I recently watched with smug satisfaction as OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra model hunted through spreadsheets to reconcile an uncooperative credit card statement and then navigated QuickBooks to make sure it was reflected in the right places.

From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026

But Venable wasn’t satisfied with spending the rest of his life poring over spreadsheets and analytical models.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

The transfer market appears to have become a game of spreadsheets where it is almost impossible to value players against each other.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

But what looks good on spreadsheets ignores daunting constraints.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

I use Eduardo’s spreadsheets on the notebook computer John bought him last Christmas.

From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee

Related Words

• application
• application software
• program