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:
He said a foreign actor could download the list and send an email to residents posing as the city asking for tax money.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
The fast-food standards have them, of course, but so do regional chains and neighborhood coffee shops: download this, order ahead, skip the line, collect points, save your usual.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
Viewers may scan a QR code for their own copy of the audio track, which deteriorates in sound quality with every download.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Proprietary models from companies like OpenAI, Anthropic or Google aren’t freely available for users to download and modify, while open-source and open-weight models are.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
I also download a virtual face to disguise myself.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
The network says it has 3.2 billion subscribers across YouTube and TikTok in 2026 and has had more than 80 million downloads of its podcasts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
The FT’s article reports that the Chinese government discussed restricting the transfer of important data abroad and limiting the downloads of models by foreign users.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
These regulations were followed by a spike in downloads of VPNs and calls from some, including the Children's Commissioner, for age checks to restrict them for young people.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
We evaluated streaming performance and P2P behavior by running downloads and streaming concurrently to observe throttling and buffering.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 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
"I thought 'I don't like the idea of this because I'm going to have to put my card details into an app that I've only just downloaded, which wasn't of my choosing'."
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
"I told them I'd downloaded it, I tried to stop, but I'd obviously gone too far," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
It lacks a resident navigation system but you can download apps—someone before me had downloaded YouTube, for instance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Users who have downloaded his app include a strip club owner, a Buddhist monk and parents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Connor is watching downloaded episodes of his favorite TV show on a tablet in his lap with headphones on.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
The National Cyber Security Centre advises people to use the QR scanner that comes with their phone - usually the camera - rather than downloading a separate app.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
It was acknowledged that Google's version of Android does not prevent device owners downloading alternative web browsers or using other search engines.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
It also argued that customers were in no way forced to use its products on Android and that downloading competing apps was just a tap away.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Williams, the mother of two, is merely the latest ultra-successful sports icon to decide that investor meetings, casual golf and downloading episodes of “Bluey” wasn’t how she wanted to spend her 40s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Apart from movies, weekends were constructed around some new Net or Web project—trying out a just-purchased game, downloading new software, collecting and listening to music, installing a new operating system.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
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.
