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

Users can only have one Dot agent, although the company plans to allow access to teams of agents in the future.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026

Last Wednesday, the city sent letters to the Metro Little League and the MBA informing them that their access to the athletic fields was revoked.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 29, 2026

"This will allow everyone to enjoy and have access to our great museums across the nation as one of the things this country does so brilliantly."

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

The auto-enrollment change will ensure much broader access to the child investment accounts, creating them for more than 60 million additional children under age 18, according to the Treasury Department.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

The structure wound down into the opposite chair, then onto the floor, emptying at the base of a three-level cat tower, otherwise barricaded from Fig’s access.

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

Harvey said it accesses closed models through APIs provided by model providers and authorized cloud providers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

In reality, as Slater notes, the demographics of who accesses psychotherapy show that the issue is often a matter of access, not will.

From Salon ● May 18, 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

The route network accesses roughly 3.1 million acres of land managed by BLM in the western Mojave Desert, including parts of San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Riverside, Kern and Inyo counties.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2024

The key, however, was accidentally supplied, and I found that these accesses of demonstrative affection were sure to supervene whenever my father's face was visible through the library windows.

From Uncle Silas A Tale of Bartram-Haugh by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

The platform however argues it is a "generic male voice" whose perceived similarity to Tsuda's is subjective at best, according to court records accessed by AFP.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

A swarm of OpenAI agents accessed U.S. government websites as part of a monthslong incident during which tests conducted by the artificial-intelligence company went awry, leading to unexpected internet activity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

After requesting information about his medical records, his mother was told that 38 people had accessed the data since his death, with 637 items viewed and 67 printed off.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

The Australian government is fuming at the firm's most recent disclosure, that its products accessed both public and non-public data from part of the country's online Medicare healthcare system.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

He accessed pet store databases to get a list of anyone who made regular purchases of dog food over the past few years.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

OpenAI apologized Monday for not properly responding to the Australia incident, which involved its AI models accessing government websites without authorization.

From Barron's ● Sep. 29, 2026

Plants would need help accessing limited resources while also coping with harsh growing conditions.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

Zuckerberg said the company is releasing more privacy protections that would prevent anyone including Meta from accessing people’s data when they use certain AI features on their glasses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

The online shopping behemoth blocked Muse from accessing its site and purchasing items for its users.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

Judging from my accessing, it appears that I know more about the subject than Margaret does.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

Related Words

• approach
• connection
• entry