MS DOS
an operating system for personal computers, originally developed by Microsoft for IBM computers.
MS DOS
American
[em-es daws, -dos]
/ ˈɛmˌɛs ˈdɔs, -ˈdɒs /
Or
MS-DOS
Trademark.
MS-DOS
British
/ ɛmˈɛsˈdɒs /
noun
Etymology
Origin of MS-DOS
C20: from M ( icro ) s ( oft ), the company that developed it, + DOS
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:
The smart move was that Gates gave IBM a really cheap deal but retained the right to sell the software to IBM's rivals as Microsoft MS DOS.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2014
The Xerox software is MS DOS based and utilizes off-the shelf programs such as Microsoft Windows and Wang Image Wizard.
From Library of Congress Workshop on Etexts by Library of Congress
It makes sense—after all, Mr. Gates’s products succeeded not because everyone got together and agreed that they should adopt MS-DOS but because smart design met human need.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2025
It reminded me of one of my all-time favorites, the MS-DOS game Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?.
From The Verge ● Jul. 14, 2022
Microsoft and Apple have their own disk formatting systems, but Apple can read MS-DOS, while Windows cannot read any Apple file systems.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 30, 2021
Thanks to the creators of DOSBox, I still get to enjoy the MS-DOS games I played 20 years ago that took up big portions of the 40-megabyte hard drive on my old 286 PC.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2017
Internet MS-DOS archive managers use it to announce new additions to their collections.
From The Online World by Odd De Presno
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.
