disk

Also disc

[disk]

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.

verb (used with object)

1. Informal.,  disc.

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

disk

/ 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

disk

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.

Other Word Forms

• disklike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of disk¹

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

Example Sentences

To prepare, simply place the half turkey on a baking sheet, tuck the butter disk between the skin and breast and roast in the oven.

Read more on Salon

Rare-earth elements are used extensively in artificial intelligence, including disk drives, cooling servers and especially semiconductor fabrication.

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Here’s what astronomers think happened: hundreds of years ago, a superfast jet launched from WSB 52 and collided with cold material near the disk, causing a huge explosion.

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The planet's strong gravitational pull generated ripples throughout the disk, creating what they describe as "cosmic traffic jams" that kept small particles from falling into the sun.

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But when a star spins rapidly, that material forms a disk around the black hole, feeding it over time and increasing its spin.

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Related Words

• disc 
• plate 
• platter