address

American  

[uh-dres, ad-res, uh-dres] / əˈdrɛs, ˈæd rɛs, əˈdrɛs /

noun

• addresses
  plural

1. a speech or written statement, usually formal, directed to a particular group of persons.

   the president's address on the state of the economy.

   Synonyms:

   lecture, discourse

2. a direction as to the intended recipient, written on or attached to a piece of mail.

3. the place or the name of the place where a person, organization, or the like is located or may be reached.

   What is your address when you're in Des Moines?

4. manner of speaking to persons; personal bearing in conversation.

5. skillful and expeditious management; ready skill; dispatch.

   to handle a matter with address.

   Synonyms:

   tact, ingenuity, cleverness, adroitness

6. Computers.

   1. a label, as an integer, symbol, or other set of characters, designating a location, register, etc., where information is stored in computer memory.

   2. a set of characters designating an email account.

      Her email address ends in “.net,” not “.com.”

   3. a set of characters designating the location of a website or a particular computer or other device on a network.

      He visits that website so often that its complete address comes up whenever he types its first letter into the address bar.

7. Government. a request to the executive by the legislature to remove a judge for unfitness.

8. Usually addresses. attentions paid by a suitor or lover; courtship.

9. Usually Address. the reply to the king's speech in the English Parliament.

10. Obsolete. preparation.

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verb (used with object)

• addresses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• addressed,
  past participle,  past
• addrest,
  past participle,  past (Archaic)
• addressing
  present participle

1. to direct a speech or written statement to.

   to address an assembly.

2. to use a specified form or title in speaking or writing to.

   Address the president as “Mr. President.”

3. to direct to the attention.

   He addressed his remarks to the lawyers in the audience.

4. to apply in speech (used reflexively, usually followed byto ).

   He addressed himself to the leader.

5. to deal with or discuss.

   to address the issues.

6. to put the directions for delivery on.

   to address a letter.

7. Commerce. to consign or entrust to the care of another, as agent or factor.

8. to direct the energy or efforts of (usually followed byto ).

   He addressed himself to the task.

9. Computers. to direct (data) to a specified memory location in a computer.

10. Golf. to take a stance and place the head of the club behind (the ball) preparatory to hitting it.

11. Obsolete. to woo; court.

12. Archaic. to give direction to; aim.

13. Obsolete. to prepare.

verb (used without object)

Obsolete.

• addresses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• addressed,
  past participle,  past
• addrest,
  past participle,  past (Archaic)
• addressing
  present participle

1. to make an appeal.

2. to make preparations.

address British  

/ əˈdrɛs /

noun

1. the conventional form by which the location of a building is described

2. the written form of this, as on a letter or parcel, preceded by the name of the person or organization for whom it is intended

3. the place at which someone lives

4. a speech or written communication, esp one of a formal nature

5. skilfulness or tact

6. archaic manner or style of speaking or conversation

7. computing a number giving the location of a piece of stored information See also direct access

8. government a statement of the opinions or wishes of either or both Houses of Parliament that is sent to the sovereign

9. the alignment or position of a part, component, etc, that permits correct assembly or fitting

10. (usually plural) expressions of affection made by a man in courting a woman

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verb

1. to mark (a letter, parcel, etc) with an address

2. to speak to, refer to in speaking, or deliver a speech to

3. (used reflexively; foll by to)

   1. to speak or write to

      he addressed himself to the chairman

   2. to apply oneself to

      he addressed himself to the task

4. to direct (a message, warning, etc) to the attention of

5. to consign or entrust (a ship or a ship's cargo) to a factor, merchant, etc

6. to adopt a position facing (the ball in golf, a partner in a dance, the target in archery, etc)

7. to treat of; deal with

   chapter 10 addresses the problem of transitivity

8. an archaic word for woo

Synonym Usage

See speech.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• addresser
  noun
• addressor
  noun
• preaddress
  noun
• readdress
  verb (used with object)
• half-addressed
  adjective
• unaddressed
  adjective
• well-addressed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• addresses
  plural

Participles

• addressing
  present
• addressed
  past
• addrest
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• address
  simple
• addresses
  simple
• have addressed
  perfect
• have addrest
  perfect
• has addressed
  perfect
• has addrest
  perfect
• am addressing
  progressive
• are addressing
  progressive
• is addressing
  progressive
• have been addressing
  perfect progressive
• has been addressing
  perfect progressive

Past

• addressed
  simple
• addrest
  simple
• had addressed
  perfect
• had addrest
  perfect
• was addressing
  progressive
• were addressing
  progressive
• had been addressing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will address
  simple
• will have addressed
  perfect
• will have addrest
  perfect
• will be addressing
  progressive
• will have been addressing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of address

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English adressen “to adorn,” from Middle French adresser; see a- ⁵, dress

Explanation

When you are a student and you want to address your teacher, it's generally safer to call her Ms. and not address her by her first name, Esmeralda. Address is a word that's long been associated with correspondence — the street number, city, state, and postal code that must be on the front of any envelope if it's going to arrive at its destination. In the digital age, an address has also come to mean the location where you might e-mail your friend pictures of your dog dressed up in a birthday hat. If you wanted to tell that friend about your dog's birthday party in person, you might address her directly. Address to describe a way of speaking is usually reserved for more formal occasions, such as when the President addresses the nation.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

address addresses addressed addrest addressing

Some of the rest will be used to meet rising demand from housebuilding and data centres and to address pollutants known as "forever chemicals".

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Critics of the White House’s approach and Hassabis’s idea say that voluntary efforts and self-regulatory concepts aren’t adequate to address the security and economic threats posed by AI.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Lightfoot, of Stockwith Close in Middlesbrough, Reaney, of Lowthian Road in Hartlepool, and Wilcock, of no fixed address, are due to be sentenced on 27 November.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

After Iger departed, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones pushed back his swivel chair and stood to address the room.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

My only hope was to look up her address in the personnel files in the office.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

He described the expansion as “a shovel-ready project that addresses a clear need for access to care and expanded emergency services.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Understanding how life began addresses one of humanity's most fundamental questions: where we came from, where the first living systems appeared, and how Earth's earliest cells were able to survive.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

“We think it addresses the residual-value question underneath every neocloud bear case.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

Boeing is introducing changes to the manufacturing process that addresses the root cause of the unsafe condition on in-production airplanes, the FAA said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Even though our team had exchanged email addresses during camp, Dad was hogging the laptop for his job search.

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

Segura said Pazsitzky’s episode happened to be the first after TMZ caught wind that the pair had split, so she addressed it first.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

She sat down with the BBC's Women's Football Weekly podcast and addressed media in a press conference that helped unmask the global superstar.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

Those concerns could be addressed next week, as CoreWeave and Nebius are set to report earnings next Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 8, 2026

Fattahi's team at MPL addressed the problem by designing an all-glass solar concentrator.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

But there was no chance for Penelope to share this plot twist with Simon, for Lord Fredrick whimpered with hunger for the chickens, and the situation needed to be addressed at once.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

The letter here in part given was addrest by Vespucius to Soderini, the Gonfalonier of Florence.

From Great Epochs in American History, Volume I. Voyages Of Discovery And Early Explorations: 1000 A.D.-1682 by Francis W. (Francis Whiting) Halsey

The memory of that great scene still lingers about the place, and every guide will show you the exact place where the Apostle stood, and in what direction he addrest his audience.

From Seeing Europe with Famous Authors, Volume 8 Italy and Greece, Part Two by Francis W. (Francis Whiting) Halsey

They felt, too, the superiority of character which addrest all men with a native authority.

From The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. IX (of X) - America - I by Henry Cabot Lodge

The gods were next addrest with expiations and recourse had to the Sibyl's books.

From The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume II (of X) - Rome by Francis W. (Francis Whiting) Halsey

The bishop, finding his entreaties useless, rose and addrest himself to his melancholy mission.

From The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. IX (of X) - America - I by Henry Cabot Lodge

Tom Segura is finally addressing the news that he and Christina Pazsitzky are divorcing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

The measures are directed at addressing operational gaps identified in the episode, including an unintelligible transmission to air-traffic controllers, who failed to notify a nearby passenger jet of the president’s helicopter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

Great for heightening drama, terrible for addressing the country's immediate difficulties.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

VA mental health staff have developed deep expertise in addressing the particular needs of vets.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

Educated Englishmen could read it; by using it, Bruno signalled that he was addressing himself to poets and courtiers, not to professors of mathematics or philosophy.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• ZIP code
• home
• location
• number