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:
In late 2022, the company unveiled a smaller-format restaurant outside Fort Worth, Texas, designed around customers ordering ahead through an app and collecting their food from a conveyor system.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
Even if someone steals or guesses your password, they can’t access your camera without an extra code sent to your phone or email, or supplied by an authentication app.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
Yandex, often dubbed "Russia's Google", runs the country's most popular search engine, as well as a food-ordering and taxi app used by tens of millions.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
I enabled alerts in the Health app when the feature rolled out last year, and have never gotten one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
I opened my mail app and the email from Professor Thomas.
From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks
"That works for a photo sharing app. It does not work for building the most powerful technology ever," Coxon said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026
"Truckers don't need another app. We need stronger protections and bigger paycheques."
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2025
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
“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.
