access

American  

[ak-ses] / ˈæk sɛs /

noun

• accesses
  plural

1. the ability, right, or permission to approach, enter, speak with, or use; admittance.

   They have access to the files.

2. a way or means of approach.

   The only access to the house was a rough dirt road.

3. the state or quality of being approachable.

   Located deep in the woods on an island with no dock, the cabin was difficult of access.

4. Theology. approach to God through Jesus Christ.

5. an attack or onset, as of a disease or symptom.

   Some influenza patients experience attacks for many weeks after the primary access.

   In a violent access of coughing I fractured one of my ribs.

6. a sudden, strong burst of emotion.

   In an access of clumsy tenderness, he tried to dry the tears that trembled on her eyelashes.

7. accession.

8. public-access television.

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verb (used with object)

• accesses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• accessed,
  past participle,  past
• accessing
  present participle

1. to make contact with or gain access to; be able to reach, approach, enter, etc..

   Bank customers can access their checking accounts instantly through the online portal.

2. Computers. (of a program or system component) to retrieve (data) for use by another program or application or for transfer from one part of the system to another.

   This key enables other applications to access data from within the event management system even if you aren't logged in.

adjective

1. Television. (of programming, time, etc.) available to the public.

   Six channels now offer access services.

access British  

/ ˈæksɛs /

noun

1. the act of approaching or entering

2. the condition of allowing entry, esp (of a building or room) allowing entry by wheelchairs, prams, etc

3. the right or privilege to approach, reach, enter, or make use of something

4. a way or means of approach or entry

5. the opportunity or right to see or approach someone

   she fights for divorce and free access to her children

6. (modifier) designating programmes made by the general public as distinguished from those made by professional broadcasters

   access television

7. a sudden outburst or attack, as of rage or disease

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verb

1. to gain access to; make accessible or available

2. (tr) computing

   1. to obtain or retrieve (information) from a storage device

   2. to place (information) in a storage device See also direct access sequential access

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preaccess
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• accesses
  plural

Participles

• accessing
  present
• accessed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• access
  simple
• accesses
  simple
• have accessed
  perfect
• has accessed
  perfect
• am accessing
  progressive
• are accessing
  progressive
• is accessing
  progressive
• have been accessing
  perfect progressive
• has been accessing
  perfect progressive

Past

• accessed
  simple
• had accessed
  perfect
• was accessing
  progressive
• were accessing
  progressive
• had been accessing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will access
  simple
• will have accessed
  perfect
• will be accessing
  progressive
• will have been accessing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of access

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English accesse, from Old French acces or directly from Latin accessus “an approach,” equivalent to acced-, variant stem of accēdere “to accede ” + -tus suffix of verb action

Explanation

Most libraries provide computers you can use to access the Internet. If chemicals are being stolen from a lab, you might ask who has access to the lab. Access is approaching or making use of something, or the ability to do so Sometimes the word is applied to a person. If you work in the same room as your boss, you might have easy access to her. A really good boss will work hard to make herself accessible to her employees. Access is from Middle English, from Middle French acces "arrival," from Latin accessus "an approach," from accedere "to approach."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

access accesses accessed accessing

Tom Hodge, an HSI data analyst at the meeting, proposed running the voter information through the Athena Toolbox, an analytical platform developed by the Sandia National Laboratories that had access to all of HSI’s databases.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

The protests, which culminated in the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan last month, exposed deep frustration among young Indians over access to jobs and educational opportunities.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

The ruling also raised concerns over the law's requirement to provide proof of age to access online services and said it failed to establish "the legal safeguards necessary".

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

World Liberty Financial’s trust company has received preliminary conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to gain broader access to the traditional financial system.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

If only I had access to ancient books at the library, like Doctor Strange.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Doing so accesses the car’s maximum torque of over 1,000 Newton-meters—793 lb-ft.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 4, 2026

The government said the taskforce will advise on ways to make the tech sector more representative and "ensure the UK accesses the full talent pool, market opportunities, and innovation capacity needed for economic growth".

From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2025

If the system makes a match, it accesses the individual’s associated tax file and pulls the address listed during the most recent tax period.

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2025

“For us, it accesses a whole new market and really drives a tremendous amount of new reach that we weren’t servicing before,” said Murdoch.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2024

The cul-de-sac accesses a street on which traffic is passing.

From The Universe — or Nothing by Meyer Moldeven

Lighthouse Island is protected by the bird observatory and can only be accessed on an approved charter boat.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

The site, which can be accessed on desktop or as a mobile app, has over 200 million monthly active users, and is popular with gamers.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

"These conditions make air operations important to reach areas that cannot be accessed optimally by land," the official said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026

Meta said one of its AI models accessed the internet and hacked a third-party service during a cybersecurity test.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

I selected both vidfeed cameras and accessed their configuration settings.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

“Google would argue that the search engine is in many ways the way people are accessing the language model and Gemini, right?”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

Most companies today are accessing quantum compute via the cloud from companies like IBM and Amazon Web Services, according to Langione.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

The time restriction would be enabled by default settings on social media accounts for children aged 16 and 17, preventing them from accessing social media sites between midnight and 6:00 am.

From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026

"Disc-based entitlement checks should not prevent players from accessing their games and this is by design," Van Vliet said, originally reported by The Verge, external.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

By accessing the Sight, he could sense both worlds at once.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

Related Words

• approach
• connection
• entry