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
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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.
Internship postings on early-career job platform Handshake were down 16% earlier this year, continuing a decline since 2023, its data show.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 25, 2026
He established the Louis Carr Internship Foundation, placing undergraduate students of color in paid summer internships to help nurture a new generation of leaders.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 3, 2025
"They may also contain additives like artificial colors and flavors or stabilizers," Kathy McManus, Director of the Department of Nutrition and Director of the Dietetic Internship at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, explained.
From Salon • Feb. 7, 2023
The effort was modelled after the Summer Internship for Indigenous Peoples in Genomics workshop, an international consortium that aims to train Indigenous scientists in genomics.
From Science Magazine • Jun. 6, 2022
Internship positions can be very competitive; most applicants are juniors or seniors with high grade-point averages and strong recommendations from their faculty.
From Textbooks • Jul. 28, 2021
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.
