- a variation of analogue.
analog
Americannoun
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analogs
plural
adjective
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of or relating to a mechanism, device, or technology that represents data by measurement of a continuous physical variable, as voltage or pressure.
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displaying a readout by a pointer or hands on a dial rather than by numerical digits.
an analog clock.
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relating to or denoting an activity, process, etc., that is not online or computerized but that can also exist or happen with the help of such technology: She prefers analog dating, meeting and getting to know someone first in a real-life setting before deciding whether to pursue a personal relationship.
In most ways, the grocery industry has remained stubbornly analog for the past few decades.
She prefers analog dating, meeting and getting to know someone first in a real-life setting before deciding whether to pursue a personal relationship.
noun
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Measuring or representing data by means of one or more physical properties that can express any value along a continuous scale. For example, the position of the hands of a clock is an analog representation of time.
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Compare digital
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An organ or structure that is similar in function to one in another kind of organism but is of dissimilar evolutionary origin. The wings of birds and the wings of insects are analogs.
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A chemical compound that has a similar structure and similar chemical properties to those of another compound, but differs from it by a single element or group. The antibiotic amoxicillin, for example, is an analog of penicillin, differing from the latter by the addition of an amino group.
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Compare homologue
Usage
The spelling analog is a US variant of analogue in all its senses, and is also the generally preferred spelling in the computer industry
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of analog
First recorded in 1955–60; see origin at analogue ( def. )
Explanation
Analog is the opposite of digital. Any technology, such as vinyl records or clocks with hands and faces, that doesn't break everything down into binary code to work is analog. Analog, you might say, is strictly old school. The original definition of analog is something that is similar to something else; the two are said to be analogous. In technological terms, it means something that has an output that's proportional or similar to its input — usually a voltage. Anything digital is the exact opposite: whatever comes out the other end bears no relationship to the soup of binary code that goes in. The word can also be spelled analogue.
Vocabulary lists containing analog
Computer Science and Technology - Introductory
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Computer Science and Technology - Middle School
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Computer Science and Technology - High School
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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.
See Examples For:
"This study is an important step forward for the use of a vitamin D analog as a stromal remodeling therapy that can overcome therapeutic resistance in pancreatic," says Perez.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026
“Maybe someday kids don’t develop social media addiction, and in five, six years, when they’re going to my club, they’ll be more receptive to a more analog lifestyle,” Edelson said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
Against that sort of backdrop, he expects “greater resilience” from makers of AI and analog chips, as well as networking providers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
Instead, there’s an easier, analog method that can do the trick.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
Trained as an electrical engineer, in the 1920s he had invented a machine known as a differential analyzer: an analog computer whose digital offspring would dominate the information age.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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Pancreatic cancer is known for producing an especially strong fibrotic response, so Evans and his team investigated whether vitamin D analogs could change the environment surrounding pancreatic tumors.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026
"By using vitamin D analogs to engage the body's own natural system for dampening fibrotic and inflammatory responses, we can enable other therapies to do their job."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026
Courts and litigants have spent years searching for historical analogs, debating how close is close enough and struggling to determine when a modern regulation meaningfully resembles something from the founding era.
From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2026
Citi’s global macro strategy team led by Dirk Willer went in search of historical analogs, looking through the last five oil crises.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 13, 2026
Some of the operations of tensor calculus have analogs in algebra; many do not.
From Fifty Per Cent Prophet by Randall Garrett
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.