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.

---

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

---

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.

---

Other Word Forms

• disklike adjective

Etymology

Origin of disk

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

Example Sentences

Instead, the analysis shows that these young worlds must have changed dramatically early on, quickly losing large portions of their thick atmospheres as the surrounding disk of gas around their star disappeared.

From Science Daily

That earlier design relied on two water-repelling disks sealed together to create buoyancy.

From Science Daily

The feat came as a surprise to the singer, who only found out after the streamer contacted her website to send her the "beautiful" disk.

From BBC

If the object turns out to be a star, the cloud would be considered a circumsecondary disk, meaning a debris disk orbiting the smaller member of a two-star system.

From Science Daily

Rare earths are a term covering 17 metallic elements that are key for manufacturing components used in products such as smartphones, batteries, and hard disk drives, among others.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• disc
• plate
• platter