short-term memory

American  

noun

1. information retained in the brain and retrievable from it over a brief span of time (contrasted with long-term memory).

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short-term memory British  

noun

1. psychol that section of the memory storage system of limited capacity (approximately seven items) that is capable of storing material for a brief period of time Compare long-term memory

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short-term memory Cultural  

1. Retention of information that undergoes little processing or interpretation and can be recalled for only a few seconds. Short-term memory can retain about seven items.

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A popular example of short-term memory is the ability to remember a seven-digit telephone number just long enough to dial a call. In most cases, unless the number is consciously repeated several times, it will be forgotten.

Etymology

Origin of short-term memory

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

The company’s SGLang software engine makes AI models process queries more efficiently and at lower cost by better utilizing short-term memory.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026

“Congress has a short-term memory, that is the difficulty here,” the staffer said.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

TurboQuant is an algorithm designed to address bottlenecks in the key-value cache, which Google describes as a “digital cheat sheet,” effectively acting as the short-term memory for an artificial-intelligence model.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

Transient global amnesia is a sudden, temporary interruption of short-term memory.

From BBC • Jan. 4, 2026

“His long-term memory is still impressive. It’s the short-term memory that is failing him. And he gets crabby sometimes. But all in all, he’s still doing pretty good.”

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen