password

American  

[pas-wurd, pahs-] / ˈpæsˌwɜrd, ˈpɑs- /

noun

1. a secret word or expression used by authorized persons to prove their right to access, information, etc.

   Synonyms:

   watchword

2. a word or other string of characters, sometimes kept secret or confidential, that must be supplied by a user in order to gain full or partial access to a computer, computer system, or electronic device.

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password British  

/ ˈpɑːsˌwɜːd /

noun

1. a secret word, phrase, etc, that ensures admission or acceptance by proving identity, membership, etc

2. an action, quality, etc, that gains admission or acceptance

3. a sequence of characters used to gain access to a computer system

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Etymology

Origin of password

First recorded in 1810–20; pass + word

Example Sentences

Adhikari and her husband, Shashank Sane, created a shared Google Drive document listing accounts and they also stored passwords in a safe.

From The Wall Street Journal

You can set Privacy Display to turn on only when you’re typing your device’s passcode, or using certain apps, such as your password manager.

From The Wall Street Journal

In the Colonial Pipeline attack, Russia-based hackers used a compromised password to gain access to the pipeline’s network, causing fuel shortages and panic buying at gasoline stations.

From The Wall Street Journal

For security’s sake, I ran OpenClaw without any access to my data or passwords, but most aren’t being that careful, because depriving agents of these privileges makes them far less useful.

From Barron's

Make sure both parties know how to find the key, where the nearest grocery store is, instructions for appliances and the password for the wifi before the swap.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• identification