download
Americanverb (used with object)
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downloads,
present (3rd person singular)
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downloaded,
past participle, past
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downloading
present participle
noun
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downloads
plural
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software, data, etc., that has been downloaded.
the best free music downloads.
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the act or process of downloading.
verb
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to copy or transfer (data or a program) into the memory of one computer system from a larger one
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to broadcast specialist programmes, for such groups as doctors, outside normal broadcasting hours. They are often recorded on video tapes and viewed later Compare upload
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to delegate or assign (work, responsibilities, costs, etc) to a someone at a lower level of an organization; off-load
noun
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To transfer data or programs from a server or host computer to one's own computer or digital device.
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Compare upload
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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downloadsimple
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downloadssimple
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have downloadedperfect
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has downloadedperfect
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am downloadingprogressive
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are downloadingprogressive
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is downloadingprogressive
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have been downloadingperfect progressive
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has been downloadingperfect progressive
Past
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downloadedsimple
-
had downloadedperfect
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was downloadingprogressive
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were downloadingprogressive
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had been downloadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of download
Explanation
When you've got files on one computer that you need to transfer onto another, you'll need to download or copy the data onto a portable drive to move it. Back before the internet brought the world to our fingers, the word download was used mainly to describe the process of copying files or data from one computer to another. But these days, you can download or copy, just about anything from the internet — from music to movies to books. Another thing you can download, if you aren't careful, is a virus, so be wary before you go transferring all kinds of files to your computer.
Vocabulary lists containing download
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:
Now, someone with a powerful computer and an open-weight AI model—a publicly released AI model that is free to download and run—can execute large-scale scams.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
"Any message asking a job seeker to download an app to participate in an interview is not legitimate."
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
The telescope will be generating about 1.3 terabytes of data a day, "which means you basically can't download the data to anybody's laptop," he said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
The company has released open-weight models, which robot developers can freely download and modify, with names such as GR00T and Cosmos.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
“The likelihood of finding a fossil is very low. It is unknown whether fossils even exist on Mars,” I say as I download more of the information that I have in my system.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
Digital downloads accounted for nearly 82 percent of game sales on the PS4 and PS5 at the start of 2026, Sony said in late July.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
Market intelligence firm Sensor Tower said other Bird ID apps have also been used more - such as Birda, which it says has had 31% more downloads this year.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The FT’s article reports that the Chinese government discussed restricting the transfer of important data abroad and limiting the downloads of models by foreign users.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
According to Similarweb, a digital market intelligence company, downloads of the app began to rise from just over 14,000 last October to 33,710 in November.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
“I have a present for you, Petra. I couldn’t get your curriculum approved, but since you’re technically old enough for more downloads, and these are off the record...”
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
The 50-person figure would be more appropriate for those who received a particular document, and the universe of people who actually opened or downloaded it would be even smaller — perhaps 10 or fewer.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
With the deal, Nvidia is helping foster the ecosystem Hugging Face built for so-called open-weight AI tools that can be downloaded and tweaked by anyone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
MapQuest — a navigation app that describes itself as the “OG of online mapping” — shot up to the top of Apple’s charts for free apps as more people downloaded it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
The company touts open models, which can be downloaded and modified, as opposed to closed models like those of rivals OpenAI or Anthropic.
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
I downloaded every game mentioned or referenced in the Almanac, from Akalabeth to Zaxxon.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
"Interviewing through Indeed's platform happens entirely in a browser and never requires downloading a special app," the company recently posted online.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Hundreds of thousands responded by downloading the app; by Monday, MapQuest had climbed to No. 1 among navigation apps in Apple’s U.S.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
Holographic, or handwritten, wills are legal in about half of the states in the U.S, including Texas, but it’s not worth writing a will on the cheap or downloading one from the internet.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
The airline is going back to one mile per dollar spent at the coffee chain from its current setup where you get miles for downloading money to your Starbucks Rewards card.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
I think instead of downloading the Elliott Smith songs you mentioned, I'll just drop a hint to my dad that I want a couple of his albums for Hotel Hanukkah.
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
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.
