disk

American  

[disk] / dɪsk /

Also disc

noun

1. any thin, flat, circular plate or object.

2. any surface that is flat and round, or seemingly so.

   the disk of the sun.

3. disc.

4. Computers. any of several types of media consisting of thin, round plates of plastic or metal, used for external storage.

   magnetic disk;

   hard disk;

   optical disk.

5. Botany, Zoology. any of various roundish, flat structures or parts.

6. intervertebral disk.

7. Botany. (in the daisy and other composite plants) the central portion of the flower head, composed of tubular florets.

8. any of the circular steel blades that form the working part of a disk harrow.

9. Mathematics. the domain bounded by a circle.

10. Archaic. discus.

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verb (used with object)

1. Informal. disc.

2. to cultivate (soil) with a disk harrow.

disk British  

/ dɪsk /

noun

1. a variant spelling (esp US and Canadian) of disc

2. Also called: magnetic disk.   hard disk.  computing a direct-access storage device consisting of a stack of plates coated with a magnetic layer, the whole assembly rotating rapidly as a single unit. Each surface has a read-write head that can move radially to read or write data on concentric tracks Compare drum 1 See also floppy disk

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disk Scientific  

/ dĭsk /

1. 1. See magnetic disk

   2. See optical disk

2. See intervertebral disk

3. The round, flat center, consisting of many disk flowers, found in the inflorescences of many composite plants such as the daisy.

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Other Word Forms

• disklike adjective

Etymology

Origin of disk

First recorded in 1655–65; from Latin discus discus; dish

Example Sentences

In 2008, he also reported spotting a bright object near the disk that appeared to be a planet.

From Science Daily

“It’s kind of like the hard disk drive story,” Fox said, explaining that EMS companies can stack different solutions and expand margins while saving end users money.

From Barron's

Friction within this disk heats the matter to extreme temperatures.

From Science Daily

This region is positioned near the celestial equator and close to the flat disk of the Milky Way, which makes it visible from many locations on Earth during certain seasons.

From Science Daily

Using their new model, the researchers followed how matter spirals inward, forming turbulent, radiation-dominated disks around stellar mass black holes.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• disc
• plate
• platter