download
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
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software, data, etc., that has been downloaded.
the best free music downloads.
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the act or process of downloading.
verb
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to copy or transfer (data or a program) into the memory of one computer system from a larger one
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to broadcast specialist programmes, for such groups as doctors, outside normal broadcasting hours. They are often recorded on video tapes and viewed later Compare upload
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to delegate or assign (work, responsibilities, costs, etc) to a someone at a lower level of an organization; off-load
noun
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To transfer data or programs from a server or host computer to one's own computer or digital device.
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Compare upload
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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downloadsimple
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downloadssimple
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have downloadedperfect
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has downloadedperfect
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am downloadingprogressive
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are downloadingprogressive
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is downloadingprogressive
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have been downloadingperfect progressive
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has been downloadingperfect progressive
Past
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downloadedsimple
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had downloadedperfect
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was downloadingprogressive
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were downloadingprogressive
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had been downloadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of download
Explanation
When you've got files on one computer that you need to transfer onto another, you'll need to download or copy the data onto a portable drive to move it. Back before the internet brought the world to our fingers, the word download was used mainly to describe the process of copying files or data from one computer to another. But these days, you can download or copy, just about anything from the internet — from music to movies to books. Another thing you can download, if you aren't careful, is a virus, so be wary before you go transferring all kinds of files to your computer.
Vocabulary lists containing download
Computer Science and Technology - Introductory
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Computer Science and Technology - Middle School
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Computer Science and Technology - High School
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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.
See Examples For:
Open-weight models allow anyone to download the numerical values, called weights, for each of the billions of parameters stored in their machine minds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Most AI models being developed in China are open source, meaning they are built and then made freely available online for anyone with the proper computer equipment to download and use.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
When the app is released, fans can download it to their phones and enter their account information to get their tickets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
In the parking lot, a legal observer helped her download the encrypted messaging app Signal and join her neighborhood rapid-response group.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
You could download the sessions if you had a password, which was not hard to get if you knew what you were doing.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
It has been downloaded 12 million times in 2026 alone, according to director Jessie Barry - who says it has had 42 million downloads overall.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The FT’s article reports that the Chinese government discussed restricting the transfer of important data abroad and limiting the downloads of models by foreign users.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Some downloads, it says, were coordinated among several Meta IP addresses, all based on the same algorithmic keywords and occurring simultaneously, suggesting that the infringements “took place within Meta’s walls.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
We evaluated streaming performance and P2P behavior by running downloads and streaming concurrently to observe throttling and buffering.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
“This thingy counts every step, and then at midnight it downloads so we can check each other’s numbers. First one who goes over or under ten thousand loses.”
From "Goodbye Stranger" by Rebecca Stead
Meanwhile, the rest of the world builds AI economies on a base of Chinese open models that can be freely downloaded, customized and distributed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
Moonshot AI will release Kimi K3 as an open-source model on 27 July, making it the first of its scale that can be freely downloaded and customised by developers and members of the public.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Its arrival later this month will make it the world's first open-source model in the three-trillion-parameter class that can be freely downloaded, run and customised by outside developers.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
I downloaded an app that mapped out my route and where I should charge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
The instant I head back to my room and close my door, I bring up all of my downloaded info on the players and display it on my wall.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
Cloud gaming allows players to stream and play games online from a remote server using a phone, tablet or controller, rather than downloading and running it on a PC or console at home.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Trained entirely on a given pastor’s sermons and teaching, PastorGPT refreshes itself automatically each week by downloading and transcribing new sermon uploads from YouTube.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
It also argued that customers were in no way forced to use its products on Android and that downloading competing apps was just a tap away.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Often referred to as “super apps,” these software programs are popular in Asia and incorporate services that Americans usually access by downloading separate apps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Apart from movies, weekends were constructed around some new Net or Web project—trying out a just-purchased game, downloading new software, collecting and listening to music, installing a new operating system.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
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.
