internship
Americannoun
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the state or condition of being an intern.
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the period during which a person serves as an intern.
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any official or formal program to provide practical experience for beginners in an occupation or profession.
an internship for management trainees.
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a position as a participant in such a program.
She has accepted an internship in a law firm.
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any period of time during which a beginner acquires experience in an occupation, profession, or pursuit.
She had a long internship before starting her own recording studio.
noun
Etymology
Origin of internship
Explanation
An internship is a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training rather than merely employment, and it can be paid or unpaid. If you want to go into publishing, you might have to take an internship before you are qualified for an actual job. To intern means "to pass inside something," and when you have an internship, it's like you've temporarily gotten permission to be inside a workplace. If you're just completing your medical training, then the next stage is to get a medical internship, in which you are supervised by more experienced doctors. Sometimes your internship is part of your "residency," your first hospital job.
Vocabulary lists containing internship
Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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Unit 3: Compelling Evidence
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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.
Silva Júnior is the first author of the study, which was conducted during an internship at the University of Tübingen in Germany with a scholarship from FAPESP.
From Science Daily • Mar. 30, 2026
Despite several work experience and internship stints she has so far failed to line up a job for when she graduates from Queen Mary University in London this summer.
From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026
“Everyone was getting fired and I couldn’t even get an internship where I’d work for free,” she recalls.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2026
He played in the now-defunct NFL Europe before earning a coaching internship with the Dallas Cowboys.
From Barron's • Feb. 7, 2026
Mayor Schmoke knew that, weeks after I completed the internship with him, I would be heading to South Africa for a semester abroad.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
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.
