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.

See Examples For:

PDF

At one point last fall, they realized their application had been stalled for three months because a county official had sent a blank PDF document to a third-party reviewer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 20, 2026

They'll stay with the PDF for now, but will be taken to the border with Thailand eventually, "because if we return now", one says, "the military could still track us".

From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026

I've sent a PDF of my book to my friends and asked them to distribute it.

From Barron's ● May 21, 2026

This is the case even if you have the Patreon app, which I downloaded in hopes it would get around the PDF, but alas.

From Salon ● May 12, 2026

You may print out this PDF file26 if you need staff paper.

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