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GPU

1 American  
[gey-pey-oo, jee-pee-yoo] / ˈgeɪˌpeɪˈu, ˈdʒiˌpiˈju /
Or G.P.U.

abbreviation

  1. (in the Soviet Union) the secret-police organization (1922–23) functioning under the NKVD.


GPU 2 American  

abbreviation

  1. General Postal Union. See Universal Postal Union.


GPU 3 American  

abbreviation

Computers.
  1. graphics processing unit: a secondary processor usually dedicated to performing the calculations necessary for producing computer graphics, lessening the burden on the main processor.


GPU British  

abbreviation

  1. State Political Administration; the Soviet police and secret police from 1922 to 1923

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of GPU1

From Russian G(osudárstvennoe) p(olitícheskoe) u(pravlénie) “state political directorate”

Origin of GPU3

First recorded in 1970–75

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:

With larger GPU memory and bandwidth, its performance is three times better than the chip Alibaba released just four months earlier, signaling companies’ push to accelerate development as competition intensifies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

However, “demand for GPU time is surging to record levels,” McPeake said in a Thursday note to clients, referring to the process by which neocloud customers rent computing power for certain amounts of time.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

The A20 Pro chip is built on 2-nanometer technology and features improved GPU, CPU, and two neural engines designed to handle on-device artificial-intelligence workloads.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

"You can unplug from the Bitcoin network any time but signing a GPU colocation lease for 10 or 20 years means steady revenue and a commitment to keep the infrastructure up for the tenants."

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Taalas makes the case that it has a lower cost of ownership than a GPU on a four-year refresh cycle, even if the Taalas chips have to be replaced every year, according to EE Times.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

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