download
Americanverb (used with object)
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downloads,
present (3rd person singular)
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downloaded,
past participle, past
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downloading
present participle
noun
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downloads
plural
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software, data, etc., that has been downloaded.
the best free music downloads.
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the act or process of downloading.
verb
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to copy or transfer (data or a program) into the memory of one computer system from a larger one
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to broadcast specialist programmes, for such groups as doctors, outside normal broadcasting hours. They are often recorded on video tapes and viewed later Compare upload
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to delegate or assign (work, responsibilities, costs, etc) to a someone at a lower level of an organization; off-load
noun
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To transfer data or programs from a server or host computer to one's own computer or digital device.
-
Compare upload
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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downloadsimple
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downloadssimple
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have downloadedperfect
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has downloadedperfect
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am downloadingprogressive
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are downloadingprogressive
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is downloadingprogressive
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have been downloadingperfect progressive
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has been downloadingperfect progressive
Past
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downloadedsimple
-
had downloadedperfect
-
was downloadingprogressive
-
were downloadingprogressive
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had been downloadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of download
Explanation
When you've got files on one computer that you need to transfer onto another, you'll need to download or copy the data onto a portable drive to move it. Back before the internet brought the world to our fingers, the word download was used mainly to describe the process of copying files or data from one computer to another. But these days, you can download or copy, just about anything from the internet — from music to movies to books. Another thing you can download, if you aren't careful, is a virus, so be wary before you go transferring all kinds of files to your computer.
Vocabulary lists containing download
Computer Science and Technology - Introductory
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Computer Science and Technology - Middle School
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Computer Science and Technology - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The new model lets users download and customise the parameters, or "weights", that determine how it computes to their own servers.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
He thinks Xiaowei has a structural advantage over Muse as it sits within WeChat, China’s most-used app, while Muse is a standalone download.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
If I want to watch them in the right order, I have to download an app called Stardust TV.
From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2026
Suno lets users download what they make and release it elsewhere, with download caps and watermarks meant to curb abuse; songs made with its new models can be distributed through Believe and TuneCore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
“Fine,” I say, half listening as I skim through the titles of the articles I can download.
From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass
According to data from Sensor Tower, Muse reached 1.43 million downloads in the 12 days following its launch, compared with OpenAI’s ChatGPT at 1.37 million and Gemini at 0.71 million.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
OpenAI’s then-general counsel David Lansky was among those who recommended free book downloads from LibGen as a possible data source, according to the filing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
The regulator said that while the company had followed all the correct procedures it had now "obtained the flight data recording downloads as well as other additional requirements" for further analysis.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
Released in February, the app has roughly 110,000 downloads on Android, with most of the users in the United States and Canada, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Elsie not only downloads the app that lets me access the othernet, she even creates a profile for me on Eurgphmthilthmsphlthm, the leading social media site in the supernatural world.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
Rombach emphasised his company's focus on "open-weight" AI models, some of which can be downloaded by researchers and developers, "increases transparency, increases safety".
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
It's been downloaded thousands of times, reports Wired magazine.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Open-weight models are those whose parameters, or variables learned and adjusted during training, can be downloaded, run or modified by different developers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Udio operates under a “walled garden” model favored by Universal, in which songs made on the platform can’t be downloaded or distributed elsewhere.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
I've actually heard of him, but I had never heard his music, so I downloaded "Waltz #2."
From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli
Criminals are using the pressure and excitement of job interviews to lure people into downloading booby-trapped mobile applications like a fake Indeed Interview app or one called MyInterview.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Hundreds of thousands responded by downloading the app; by Monday, MapQuest had climbed to No. 1 among navigation apps in Apple’s U.S.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2026
Holographic, or handwritten, wills are legal in about half of the states in the U.S, including Texas, but it’s not worth writing a will on the cheap or downloading one from the internet.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
Eligible participants can add a driver’s license by downloading the DMV Wallet app or through Apple, Google and Samsung wallet apps and following the prompts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Even as I continue downloading information, I find myself distracted as the spotlights sweep over each team, hardly able to believe that I’m in the same space as them.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
