laptop
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of laptop
Explanation
Laptop is short for laptop computer. The big computer on your desk is a desktop, and the small one on your lap is a laptop. See what they did there? Now shoo that lapdog and get to work! There are other kinds of portable computers, but a laptop usually has a screen that folds over the keyboard when you’re not using it. The earliest versions of laptops were made in the 1970s, and they've become lighter, thinner, more portable, and much more popular since then. The word laptop was coined in 1984, based on — you guessed it — desktop, which describes the heavier, non-portable computer.
Vocabulary lists containing laptop
Computer Science and Technology - Introductory
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Units 2–3
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Computer Terms
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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.
He did not admit contempt in relation to an accusation he failed to return a company laptop, which he says was bought for him personally.
From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026
You might use services from Google, Meta, Amazon.com, Netflix and Microsoft, but there’s a good chance you access them on an Apple phone, laptop or tablet—or all three.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
In this pushback against devices, the district would “encourage schools to utilize laptop carts and/or computer labs for second through fifth grade, while reducing the use of one-to-one devices.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026
Even in the face of soaring component costs, the company launched its budget laptop, the MacBook Neo, earlier this year.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 21, 2026
Este closes the lid of her laptop and carries her iced tea glass to the sink.
From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko
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.
