download
Americanverb (used with object)
-
downloads,
present (3rd person singular)
-
downloaded,
past participle, past
-
downloading
present participle
noun
-
downloads
plural
-
software, data, etc., that has been downloaded.
the best free music downloads.
-
the act or process of downloading.
verb
-
to copy or transfer (data or a program) into the memory of one computer system from a larger one
-
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
-
to delegate or assign (work, responsibilities, costs, etc) to a someone at a lower level of an organization; off-load
noun
-
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
-
downloadsimple
-
downloadssimple
-
have downloadedperfect
-
has downloadedperfect
-
am downloadingprogressive
-
are downloadingprogressive
-
is downloadingprogressive
-
have been downloadingperfect progressive
-
has been downloadingperfect progressive
Past
-
downloadedsimple
-
had downloadedperfect
-
was downloadingprogressive
-
were downloadingprogressive
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Computer Science and Technology - Middle School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Computer Science and Technology - High School
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
“But I think in this case, unless they release the playable build for other people to download, I don’t think that it’s going to have a noticeable impact on their sales.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
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
Glimmer is an open weight model, meaning users can download and modify the underlying rules that govern the AI system.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
If you need some staff paper, you can download this PDF file22 .
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
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
According to Similarweb, a digital market intelligence company, downloads of the app began to rise from just over 14,000 last October to 33,710 in November.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
We evaluated streaming performance and P2P behavior by running downloads and streaming concurrently to observe throttling and buffering.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
The vials and collection tools would’ve intimidated me before the hundreds of years of downloads.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
The 66-year-old scanned a QR code on the advert, using an app he had downloaded.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Users who have downloaded his app include a strip club owner, a Buddhist monk and parents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Sean Harding downloaded Whatnot, a live-shopping app, after rekindling his childhood baseball-card collecting hobby.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
By contrast, Meta and Nvidia are developing "open" models that can be downloaded and updated directly by users.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
Maybe the stories he downloaded are still in there somewhere too.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
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
Cloud gaming allows players to stream and play games online from a remote server using a phone, tablet or controller, rather than downloading and running it on a PC or console at home.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 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
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
Meanwhile, downloading software and MP3s was sometimes agonizingly slow; even worse, they’d gotten their butts kicked when they went online to play Quake or Half-Life against geeks who did have cable modems.
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.
