open-source

[ oh-puhn-sawrs, -sohrs ]

/ ˈoʊ pənˈsɔrs, -ˈsoʊrs /

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adjective

Computers. pertaining to or denoting software whose source code is available free of charge to the public to use, copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute.

pertaining to or denoting a product or system whose origins, formula, design, etc., are freely accessible to the public.

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Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of open-source

First recorded in 1960–65

Words nearby open-source

open shop, open side, open-sided, open sight, open slather, open-source, open space, open-stack, open stance, open-standard, open stock

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use open-source in a sentence

Like many trans users, Transartist often gets used as a source of information more than anything else.
Grindr’s Trans Dating Problem|David Levesley|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
According to a Yemeni intelligence source, Saïd met with the notorious U.S. preacher Anwar al Awlaki.
France Kills Charlie Hebdo Murderers|Nico Hines|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
When it became too crowded, they moved her into an open casket on the street.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion|Nina Strochlic|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Jettison your lawyers as a source of prison-yard guidance, Abramoff said.
Abramoff’s Advice for Virginia’s New Jailhouse Guv|Tim Mak, Jackie Kucinich|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

She claims the FBI tried to enlist her as a cooperating source in their investigation.
An Informant, a Missing American, and Juarez’s House of Death: Inside the 12-Year Cold Case of David Castro|Bill Conroy|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Let them open their minds to us, let them put upon permanent record the significance of all their intrigues and manœuvres.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
The doors (Indian bungalows have hardly any windows, each door being half glass) were open front and back.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
It was close upon twelve o'clock, and the "Rooms" had been open to the public for two hours.
Rosemary in Search of a Father|C. N. Williamson
The old earl's property, the source of his wealth, as from his title the reader will have shrewdly guessed, was in collieries.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
Worst danger zone, the open sea, now traversed, but on land not yet out of the wood.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton

British Dictionary definitions for open-source

open source

noun

intellectual property, esp computer source code, that is made freely available to the general public by its creators
(as modifier)open source software Compare closed source

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

Scientific definitions for open-source

open-source

Relating to source code that is available to the public without charge. Open-source code is often enhanced, improved, and adapted for specific purposes by interested programmers, with the revised versions of the code are made available to the public. For example, most of the code in the Linux operating system is open-source.