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

The latter includes makers of memory chips, hard drives, fiber-optic cabling and even power generators—Caterpillar’s CAT -0.21%decrease; red down pointing triangle 34% gain so far this year is leading the Dow.

From The Wall Street Journal

Under Locations, select your hard drive, then tap Save.

From The Wall Street Journal

Behind the camera, filming in Iran came with its challenges - Khaki and Eyni say they faced delays obtaining permits from local authorities, interrogations and had their hard drives confiscated.

From BBC

Shares of the hard drive maker were up 4.4% on Wednesday.

From Barron's

The ever-growing vastness of human knowledge is no longer stored in libraries, but on hard drives that struggle to last decades, let alone millennia.

From Barron's

Related Words

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