Dictionary.com
definitions

online

or on-line, on line

[on-lahyn, awn-]
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR online ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

adverb

with or through a computer, especially over a network.

RELATED CONTENT

Euphoria And Other Trending Words This Week
Social media has been abuzz this week with talk about—what else—Facebook, and all this talk has put at least one word in the hot seat on Dictionary.com’s trending list! Glib Glib took an abrupt 868% climb earlier in the week when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg used the term to clap back at Apple CEO Tim Cook, who had criticized the social-media company’s Cambridge Analytica scandal. …
READ MORE
The Origin Of Cyber Monday’s Name Is From The 1940s
For many, Cyber Monday provides the perfect shopping solution: all the holiday deals with none of the holiday crowds. But, where did the name Cyber Monday come from?
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

wired, accessible, connected, linked, operative
Compare offline.

Origin of online

First recorded in 1945–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for online

Contemporary Examples of online

Historical Examples of online

British Dictionary definitions for online

online

on-line

adjective

of, relating to, or concerned with a peripheral device that is directly connected to and controlled by the central processing unit of a computer
of or relating to the internetonline shopping
occurring as part of, or involving, a continuous sequence of operations, such as a production line

adverb

while connected to a computer or the internet
See offline
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for online
adj.

in reference to computers, "directly connected to a peripheral device," 1950 (originally as on-line).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Science definitions for online

online

[ŏn′līn′]

Connected to or accessible by means of a computer or computer network.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Culture definitions for online

online

A term referring to locations on or use of the Internet. The term can be used to refer to a specific location or Web page (“Our sales catalogues can be found online at — ”) or to a personal activity (“I went online to find the information you wanted.”)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.