desktop

American  

[desk-top] / ˈdɛskˌtɒp /

adjective

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

   a desktop calendar.

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noun

• desktops
  plural

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 British  

/ 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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• desktops
  plural

Etymology

Origin of desktop

First recorded in 1925–30; desk + top ¹

Explanation

A desktop is the surface of a desk, the part you use for writing or resting your laptop on. Particularly tidy people might need to clean the entire desktop before getting any work done. Your literal desktop — the top or surface of your desk — inspired the name for your computer desktop, the home screen on which you organize icons representing your files. When you're using a computer, you generally start from your desktop, opening windows or clicking on a file. When desktop is used as an adjective, it typically means "meant to be kept and used on your desk," like a desktop computer or a desktop scanner.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

desktop desktops

The agent is accessed through a desktop application or a mobile app, and employees can chat with it through the Cisco-owned Webex videoconferencing software.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

The staff member involved has been reprimanded, and the obituary files have been moved off the studio desktop to prevent a repeat incident.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

Up until then, managers had been reliant on the restaurant’s desktop systems, already overloaded with running all the back office restaurant operations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

People in lower income brackets also are more likely to have a smartphone than a laptop or desktop computer, according to data from Pew Research Center.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

Her desktop computer had crashed right before they moved, but Candice’s mom wanted to wait until the fall before buying her a new one.

From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson

The Nvidia chip will be released in the fall, and will power desktops from companies including Dell, HP, Lenovo and Microsoft.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 1, 2026

RTX Spark-powered laptops and desktops, made by the likes of Dell and Lenovo, will be available this autumn, Nvidia said.

From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026

In the 1970s, Banatao joined gatherings of the Homebrew Computer Club, a band of hobbyists and tinkerers that included Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and others who envisioned machines that could perch on desktops.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 15, 2026

Once students started using desktops from prison classrooms, he pre-loaded academic articles onto thumb drives they could explore offline.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2025

The other two interviewers had asked a bunch of questions about how he’d handle various repairs of the company’s numberless desktops.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz