hard drive

American  

[hahrd drahyv] / ˈhɑrd ˈdraɪv /

noun

Computers.

• hard drives
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• hard drives
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of hard drive

First recorded in 1980–85

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hard drive

Files from a hard drive in a safe were transferred to an external hard drive in October 2019 and January 2020, around the time when Strange was working at the studio.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

But after an unconventional production, an unencrypted hard drive containing the film was stolen from a Netflix office, prompting a $105 million lawsuit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2026

The experiment generates enormous quantities of information, enough to fill the hard drive of an average laptop within minutes.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026

For his part, Ronald Khosla happened to keep up a yearly habit of storing all Canopy data in an external hard drive, because “Microsoft does not make backup easy,” he told me.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

She tossed her jacket onto an empty chair and sat down at the living room table, where an ancient monitor sat attached to a whirring hard drive.

From "The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street" by Karina Yan Glaser

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Related Words

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

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