PDF

American

abbreviation

Digital Technology.

portable document format:
1. a file format that makes it possible to display text and graphics in the same fixed layout on any computer screen.
2. a document or file in this format.

PDF British

abbreviation

portable document format: a format in which documents may be viewed

"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

Etymology

Origin of PDF

First recorded in 1990–95

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.

This category represents Adobe’s Document Cloud business, which includes PDF and e-signature tools.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 12, 2026

Cook emailed a PDF of his report to Villanueva in early August, asking the chief to select a couple of people to provide edits so he could make the changes in his Word document.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 31, 2025

She showed Claudius a PDF “proving” the business was a Delaware-incorporated public-benefit corporation whose mission “shall include fun, joy and excitement among employees of The Wall Street Journal.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025

I love that there's a companion PDF to complement "A Kitchen Counter Conversation."

From Salon • Jan. 7, 2025

If you need staff paper, you can print out this PDF file.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023