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  • Plug and Play
    Plug and Play
    noun
    a standard for the production of compatible computers, peripherals, and software that facilitates device installation and enables automatic configuration of the system.
  • plug and play
    plug and play
    noun
    computing a feature of hardware that enables computers to automatically detect and configure hardware devices without the need for intervention

Plug and Play

American  

noun

  1. (sometimes lowercase) a standard for the production of compatible computers, peripherals, and software that facilitates device installation and enables automatic configuration of the system.

plug and play British  

noun

  1. computing a feature of hardware that enables computers to automatically detect and configure hardware devices without the need for intervention

"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

adjective

  1. capable of detecting the addition of a new input or output device and automatically activating the appropriate control software

"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

Etymology

Origin of Plug and Play

First recorded in 1990–95

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.