browse
Americanverb (used with object)
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to eat, nibble at, or feed on (leaves, tender shoots, or other soft vegetation).
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to graze; pasture on.
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to look through or glance at casually or randomly.
He's browsing the shelves for something to read.
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to access and view (website content) with a Web browser, usually without looking for something specific.
a secure way to browse the Web.
verb (used without object)
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to feed on or nibble at foliage, lichen, berries, etc.
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to graze.
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to glance at random through a book, magazine, etc.
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to look leisurely at goods displayed for sale, as in a store.
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to access and view websites with a Web browser, as in
If you love to browse while on the road, you can easily take advantage of free Wi-Fi .
noun
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tender shoots or twigs of shrubs and trees as food for cattle, deer, etc.
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an act or instance of browsing.
verb
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to look through (a book, articles for sale in a shop, etc) in a casual leisurely manner
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computing to search for and read hypertext, esp on the Internet
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(of deer, goats, etc) to feed upon (vegetation) by continual nibbling
noun
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the act or an instance of browsing
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the young twigs, shoots, leaves, etc, on which certain animals feed
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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browsesimple
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browsessimple
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have browsedperfect
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has browsedperfect
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am browsingprogressive
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are browsingprogressive
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is browsingprogressive
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have been browsingperfect progressive
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has been browsingperfect progressive
Past
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browsedsimple
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had browsedperfect
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was browsingprogressive
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were browsingprogressive
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had been browsingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of browse
1400–50; late Middle English browsen, perhaps a verbal derivative of Anglo-French broz, plural of brot shoot, new growth, Old French brost < Old Low Franconian *brust bud, noun derivative of *brustjan; compare Old Saxon brustian to come into bud
Explanation
To browse is to look casually for whatever catches your eye, rather than searching for something specific. Window shopping and scanning the newspaper for interesting headlines are forms of browsing. You can browse in a store, a library, or browse the Internet (with — what else? — an Internet "browser"). When it comes to reading material, browse means the same as peruse. Back in the 16th century, though, this verb was used in reference to animals feeding on, or grazing on, the buds of trees.
Vocabulary lists containing browse
Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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No Easy Answers: Our Digital World and "Gadgets and Games"
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From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
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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:
They will also be able to watch videos, browse the web, play AR games and record what they see through the glasses.
From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026
They are essential for anyone who wants to secure their data, stream content freely and browse the internet without worrying about being tracked.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
If anyone is in doubt, he told them, just browse OpenAI’s careers page.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
It’s just fun to browse around the stacks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
“But I can never resist a quick browse through a curiosity shop.”
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
“I love an expensive grocery store,” says Samantha Pearlstein, a 26-year-old sales engineer, as she browses $85 flower arrangements and $23 salads.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
"I don't trust high-street sizing," one person tells me, as she browses one of London's popular shopping streets.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2025
The justices pondered lots of possibilities: When a person thinks about taking a trip, or commits to doing it, or browses a hotel’s website, or takes out their credit card to book, for example.
From Slate ● Oct. 4, 2023
Emily Colucci, a freelance art writer, “constantly, mindlessly” browses the online job listings hosted by the nonprofit New York Foundation for the Arts — and last week she found a doozy.
From New York Times ● Feb. 26, 2023
He browses among the lilies, 6:4 You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.
From The World English Bible (WEB): Song of Solomon by Anonymous
Among them, the height to volume model was applied to heavily browsed willows with unusual growth forms, even though the model was not designed for such distorted shapes.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 14, 2026
Anyone who has watched more than one Apple product announcement or browsed its website will see a remarkable coincidence: almost every screen appears to show the time as 9:41 am.
From Barron's ● Mar. 29, 2026
She’s browsed the kimchi options at her local supermarket, but worried about the spiciness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2025
For the Nigerian designer, most orders come through Instagram DMs, after potential clients have browsed photos of dresses tagging her brand and then get in touch.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2025
They went up the slopes of the cone-shaped peaks in the summer, when the deer were reddish brown, the hair short and shining while they browsed in meadows above the treeline to avoid the heat.
From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko
It captured clicks, keystrokes and browsing activity of US employees to train AI agents -- software capable of independently performing tasks.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
The second order, on post-quantum cryptography, addresses a looming vulnerability: the rise of quantum computers powerful enough to unravel the public-key cryptography underpinning secure web browsing and blockchain networks.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
With a VPN, you enjoy greater privacy, safer browsing and the ability to bypass location-based blocks.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
At the developers conference, Apple’s executives said it’s rolling out new parental controls, including the ability to more easily manage which websites their children are browsing and which apps they’re using.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
We’re at some fancy bakery in the Pearl District, browsing through cakes, scones, and cookies.
From "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson
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.
