closed source

British

noun

1. intellectual property, esp computer source code, that is not made available to the general public by its creators
2. ( as modifier ) Compare open source
  
  closed source software

"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

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.

“And then I kind of took my eye off the ball, I guess, and they are now closed source and they are obviously for profit.”

From Washington Post • Apr. 21, 2023

Here, industry shifted from a single internal or closed source of research to multiple external or open sources18.

From Nature • Oct. 21, 2019

We could know this if the software were not closed source but open to inspection.

From Scientific American • Apr. 25, 2014

Apple’s integrated, closed source model has led to high-quality user experience and fat profit margins.

From Forbes • Dec. 10, 2012

The maintenance of such imbalances is dependent on closed source processes.

From Open Source Democracy by Rushkoff, Douglas

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023