format
Americannoun
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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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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)
noun
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the general appearance of a publication, including type style, paper, binding, etc
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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
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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
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are formattingprogressive
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is formattingprogressive
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have been formattingperfect progressive
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has been formattingperfect progressive
Past
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formattedsimple
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had formattedperfect
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was formattingprogressive
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were formattingprogressive
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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:
But with the expanded field, it was a round-of-32 game against a Bosnia-Herzegovina team that finished third in its group and likely would not have qualified for the tournament under the old format.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
That was first introduced to the Women's Ashes in 2013 and was integral in securing the relevance of the format as the women's game grew and developed.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
The exact format which will be broadcast from Monday is being kept under wraps.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Open-air is the traditional format, which accounts for half the league today, dropping to about a third by 2030.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Printing out the list would make a big stack of paper—unless you know how to format, which I do.
From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements
In 2020, she became the first England player, either in men's or women's cricket, to score an international century in all three formats.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
Titmouse’s work, in development by a number of directors with contrasting tones, will be shown on a variety of formats, ranging from cinema screens to full-room projections.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
The company is working to keep prices in check, as U.S. consumers fixate on affordability and buyers shift toward bulk or budget pack sizes, passing over middle formats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Curran played the last of his 24 Tests in 2021, featuring for England only in white-ball formats since then.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
Familiar examples include standardized weights and measures, electrical voltages and cables, computer file formats, and paper currency.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
"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
It confesses to writing like “a painfully neutral Midwestern news anchor reading off a perfectly formatted teleprompter.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
The letters poured in and Baxter set up a complicated card index system so children would get personal replies rather than a formatted letter.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2025
“Yeah. I like how you’ve formatted your skill set.”
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
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
Some journals are experimenting with artificial intelligence to screen submissions or flag common problems, like issues with document formatting.
From Slate ● May 3, 2026
However, one reviewer on the GoodReads website claimed the book appeared to be "written by ChatGPT", while another noted the "bizarre formatting, typos and repetitive turns of phrase".
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026
The runaway success of “Squid Game” was definitive proof that audiences are looking for the spark of originality in familiar formatting, and that language is no barrier when it comes to streaming entertainment.
From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2024
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.
