app
noun
a software application, often a small, specialized program for mobile devices.
app
1 American
[ap]
/ æp /
noun
-
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.
-
an application; a form to be filled out by an applicant.
I'm working on my college apps.
app
2
American
[ap]
/ æp /
noun
app.
3
American
abbreviation
-
apparatus.
-
apparent.
-
appendix.
-
applied.
-
appointed.
-
approved.
-
approximate.
app
British
/ æp /
noun
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!"
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:
Today, he is an independent Apple platforms developer and the creator of migraine-tracking app Auralog.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
Where are the thunderstorms on my weather app?
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
Each consortium plans to release a new app for accessing their AI service, while also incorporating AI into its existing tools for ease of access.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
I opened the dating app when I landed at O’Hare and swiped on a tall bald guy from Dallas, who was in Chicago for the weekend with his college buddies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
I explain how my phone died, and Mom turned on the “find my phone” app once she realized I wasn’t at Nora’s apartment.
From "A Soft Place to Land" by Janae Marks
Think about a recipe like a roadmap, a GPS app. or a guideline, but to a destination you’ve already been to.
From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2025
Though Uber as a company has horrifying labor practices, you can at least look at them and go, “This is why I’m using the app. This is why this is a potentially world-changing concept.”
From Slate ● Feb. 2, 2025
“As a parent, I get tired of that being UGA’s go-to. Oh, we have the safety app. Well, the safety app is not much of a deterrent,” Bennett told the Atlanta TV station.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 23, 2024
“We’re not using the app. It does not work at all anyways,” he said, referring to the mobile app, CBP One.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 28, 2023
“You guys won first place. Congratulations. You’ve got a thousand dollars to put toward the development of your app. It’s a step in the right direction.”
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
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.
