format
Americannoun
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formats
plural
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the shape and size of a book as determined by the number of times the original sheet has been folded to form the leaves.
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the general physical appearance of a book, magazine, or newspaper, such as the typeface, binding, quality of paper, margins, etc.
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the organization, plan, style, or type of something.
The format of the show allowed for topical and controversial gags.
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Computers. the arrangement of data for computer input or output, such as the number and size of fields in a record or the spacing and punctuation of information in a report.
verb (used with object)
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formats,
present (3rd person singular)
-
formatted,
past participle, past
-
formatting
present participle
-
to plan or provide a format for.
to format the annual telethon.
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Computers.
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to set the format of (input or output).
Some word-processing programs format output in a variety of ways.
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to prepare (a disk) for writing and reading.
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verb (used without object)
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formats,
present (3rd person singular)
-
formatted,
past participle, past
-
formatting
present participle
noun
-
the general appearance of a publication, including type style, paper, binding, etc
-
an approximate indication of the size of a publication as determined by the number of times the original sheet of paper is folded to make a leaf See also duodecimo quarto
-
style, plan, or arrangement, as of a television programme
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computing
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the defined arrangement of data encoded in a file or for example on magnetic disk or CD-ROM, essential for the correct recording and recovery of data on different devices
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the arrangement of text on printed output or a display screen, or a coded description of such an arrangement
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verb
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To divide a disk into marked sectors so that it may store data.
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To determine the arrangement of data for storage or display.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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formatsimple
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formatssimple
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have formattedperfect
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has formattedperfect
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am formattingprogressive
-
are formattingprogressive
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is formattingprogressive
-
have been formattingperfect progressive
-
has been formattingperfect progressive
Past
-
formattedsimple
-
had formattedperfect
-
was formattingprogressive
-
were formattingprogressive
-
had been formattingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of format
First recorded in 1830–40; from French, from Latin (liber) fōrmātus “(book) shaped (in a specified way)”; see formation ( def. )
Explanation
In saving a new electronic document, you must choose a format, for instance PDF, Word doc, or XML, which dictates how the information is to be organized, displayed, and manipulated. To format information is to arrange it according to preexisting parameters. Electronic files require a format or, more commonly, a "file type," so computers will know how to open, read, and change them. Entertainment media are delivered in such varied formats as VHS, CD, DVD, MP3, and MOV. In the world of AM/FM radio, format is the type of music a station plays, such as top-40, urban, dance, or country.
Vocabulary lists containing format
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Computer Science and Technology - Introductory
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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:
Slate was an early adopter of the listicle, that now-familiar internet format.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026
It was actually a draft of “Eternally Yours” that convinced CBS to let them adapt “Ghosts” from a U.K. format.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
England also finished as runners-up in 1975, when the tournament was contested in a league format.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Launched in 2009, the show was a pioneer of the long-form video-podcast format, with Rogan hosting fellow comedians, Hollywood A-listers, politicians, scientists and authors for wide-ranging conversations sometimes running over three hours.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Explain a moment that changed your worldview, written in recipe format.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
Harry Brook captains England on both legs of the tour and is once again set to play across formats in every game of the winter.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Prior to the injury, the Durham man was an international regular across formats and was the only England seamer to play in all five Tests in Australia.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
Much in the same way Slate was early to formats that would come to dominate digital publishing—explainers, deliberately counterintuitive arguments, chat podcasts—so too were we early progenitors of the internet listicle.
From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2026
By 1943 servicemen could receive illustrated magazines, such as Newsweek and Time, in reduced-size formats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Because these tools are delivered over the Internet and written in standard Web formats, they are accessible to anyone who has an Internet connection and are easily interoperable with any business.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
"AI thrives on recognising patterns. And legal citations and arguments are always formatted in the same way, so it's easy for an AI to follow a template and generate fake ones," said Charlotin.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
However, Wells participated in a CBP webinar last week, so she knew how to create a properly formatted file herself, and quickly made her submission on Monday morning.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 20, 2026
The letter was formatted similarly to a diplomatic note and carried an official Cuban seal, the current U.S. official said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
His style was laid back, conversational and a contrast to the highly formatted slick patter of many other DJs.
From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2024
“Yeah. I like how you’ve formatted your skill set.”
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
While both phones and laptops now have high-quality cameras, the formatting is a dead giveaway that you’re not on a laptop, says Melissa Marcus, a career coach who worked as a recruiter for 20 years.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
I pleaded with the AI to fix formatting that would take just a few of my own keystrokes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
Spelling mistakes and formatting errors throughout the proclamations have made identifying exempted plants a guessing game.
From Salon ● May 10, 2026
Some journals are experimenting with artificial intelligence to screen submissions or flag common problems, like issues with document formatting.
From Slate ● May 3, 2026
While I was formatting the text from earlier—the one for Another Rachel—a new submission popped up.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
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.
