software
Americannoun
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Computers. the programs used to direct the operation of a computer, as well as documentation giving instructions on how to use them.
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anything that is not hardware but is used with hardware, especially audiovisual materials, as film, tapes, records, etc..
a studio fully equipped but lacking software.
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Television Slang. prepackaged materials, as movies or reruns, used to fill out the major part of a station's program schedule.
noun
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computing the programs that can be used with a particular computer system Compare hardware
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video cassettes and discs for use with a particular video system
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The programs, programming languages, and data that direct the operations of a computer system. Word processing programs and Internet browsers are examples of software.
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Compare hardware
Usage
What is software? Software is a program or virtual experience that directs the operation of a computer or electronic device, as in The software on my phone was so outdated, I couldn’t send texts to anyone.Software can refer to anything that is used with hardware but is not the hardware itself.Example: The hardware is great, but there just isn’t enough software to back it up.
Etymology
Origin of software
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.
The Indian information technology services provider said Tuesday that the collaboration will start in telecommunications and expand to financial services, manufacturing and software development.
Breaker Industries, which says its software reduces the work needed to control multiple autonomous systems, closed the raise in late 2025 at a valuation of $28 million.
The company’s stock had already been pressured by investor fears that advances in artificial intelligence would hit software businesses especially hard.
He said many software companies became dramatically overvalued in recent years, “on the assumption that margins would stay stratospheric forever.”
From MarketWatch
He said many software companies became dramatically overvalued in recent years, “on the assumption that margins would stay stratospheric forever.”
From MarketWatch
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.
