desktop

[desk-top]

adjective

1. small or compact enough to fit or be used on a desk.

   a desktop calendar.

noun

1. the surface of a desk.

2. Computers.

   1. Also called desktop computer. a computer that is not portable, often consisting of a CPU, monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

   2. the primary display screen of a graphical user interface, on which various icons represent files, groups of files, programs, or the like, which can be moved, accessed, added to, put away, or thrown away in ways analogous to the handling of file folders, documents, notes, etc., on a real desk.

desktop

/ ˈdɛskˌtɒp /

noun

1. the main screen display on a personal computer, from which windows may be opened and programs run

2. (modifier) denoting a computer system, esp for word processing, that is small enough to use at a desk

Word History and Origins

Origin of desktop¹

First recorded in 1925–30; desk + top ¹

Example Sentences

While Intel “has already pared back a lot of share losses in laptops,” Arya thinks the company faces an “urgent need” to update its desktop technology.

Read more on MarketWatch

The desktop computer transformed the labor market, for example, but for a while workers hunting and pecking on their keyboards didn’t know how to effectively use the technology.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It’s currently available for use on mobile, tablet and desktop.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

And Starbucks Korea warned this month that a minority of people are going further than just laptops, such as bringing in desktop monitors, printers, partitioning off desks or leaving tables unattended for long periods.

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Sitting there, square and silver, a little like an early-2000s desktop computer left to dream of glory, was a panini press.

Read more on Salon