hard drive

American  

[hahrd drahyv] / ˈhɑrd ˈdraɪv /

noun

Computers.

1. HDD.

2. (loosely) a drive for a computer, as a traditional hard disk drive (HDD) or another drive serving a similar function, as opposed to a very small, portable flash drive.

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hard drive British  

noun

1. computing (on a computer) the mechanism that handles the reading, writing, and storage of data on the hard disk

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hard drive Scientific  

1. A disk drive that reads data stored on hard disks.

2. Also called hard disk drive

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hard drive Cultural  

1. The bulk of the memory of a personal computer is magnetically stored on hard disks that constitute the hard drive. Information in the hard drive is durable, in that it remains magnetically stored when the computer is turned off. (See magnetic memory.)

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Etymology

Origin of hard drive

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

An IT worker from Wales lost around 7,500 bitcoin he mined in 2009 after a hard drive was mistakenly thrown away during an office cleanup.

From The Wall Street Journal

Rare earths -- 17 metals difficult to extract from the Earth's crust -- are used in everything from electric vehicles to hard drives, wind turbines and missiles.

From Barron's

In this case, AI has spurred demand for both hard drives to store data and memory chips to to ensure fast access to that data.

From Barron's

The earnings beat all boils down to the artificial-intelligence boom, which has driven up demand for data and hard drives.

From Barron's

The earnings beat all boils down to the artificial-intelligence boom, which has driven up demand for data and hard drives.

From Barron's

Related Words

• disk drive
• hardware
• modem
• personal computer
• supercomputer