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Synonyms

app

1 American  
[ap] / æp /

noun

  1. Digital Technology. a software application, often a small, specialized program for mobile devices.

    You’ll find numerous free photo editing apps in the app store on your smartphone.

    The word processing app that comes with the laptop isn’t adequate for our publishing needs.

  2. an application; a form to be filled out by an applicant.

    I'm working on my college apps.
app 2 American  
[ap] / æp /

noun

  1. Informal. an appetizer served before a meal.

app. 3 American  

abbreviation

  1. apparatus.

  2. apparent.

  3. appendix.

  4. applied.

  5. appointed.

  6. approved.

  7. approximate.

app British  
/ æp /

noun

  1. informal computing short for application program

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of app1

First recorded in 1985–90; shortening of application ( def. )

Origin of app2

By shortening

Explanation

An app is a program that's designed to be used on your computer, tablet, or mobile phone. If you don't have a weather app, how will you know whether or not to bring your raincoat? App is short for application. You can use it for any kind of computer application (like word processing or spreadsheets), but it usually refers to smartphones. If you have one, you've also got apps, for things like maps, banking, entertainment, to-do lists, and photo editing. Every so often, you'll also hear someone use app as shorthand for a restaurant appetizer: "I'd like to order some apps for the table, when you have a sec!"

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

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.

Some initiatives he previously championed, including the video-generation app Sora, have been rolled back.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Wragg stood down as an MP after admitting to sharing colleagues' personal phone numbers with someone he met on a dating app.

From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026

Just be prepared to download yet another app on your phone.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026

When passwords are posted to Instagram and tables booked on an app, what is a speakeasy—and can it be anything more than a gimmick?

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

Four girls from the back table dashed to the front of the room and presented their app game about an alien landing on Earth.

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

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.