format

American  

[fawr-mat] / ˈfɔr mæt /

noun

formats plural

1. the shape and size of a book as determined by the number of times the original sheet has been folded to form the leaves.

2. the general physical appearance of a book, magazine, or newspaper, such as the typeface, binding, quality of paper, margins, etc.

3. the organization, plan, style, or type of something.

   The format of the show allowed for topical and controversial gags.

4. Computers. the arrangement of data for computer input or output, such as the number and size of fields in a record or the spacing and punctuation of information in a report.

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verb (used with object)

formats, present (3rd person singular) formatted, past participle, past formatting present participle

1. to plan or provide a format for.

   to format the annual telethon.

2. Computers.

   1. to set the format of (input or output).

      Some word-processing programs format output in a variety of ways.

   2. to prepare (a disk) for writing and reading.

verb (used without object)

formats, present (3rd person singular) formatted, past participle, past formatting present participle

1. to devise a format.

format British  

/ ˈfɔːmæt /

noun

1. the general appearance of a publication, including type style, paper, binding, etc

2. an approximate indication of the size of a publication as determined by the number of times the original sheet of paper is folded to make a leaf See also duodecimo quarto

3. style, plan, or arrangement, as of a television programme

4. computing

   1. the defined arrangement of data encoded in a file or for example on magnetic disk or CD-ROM, essential for the correct recording and recovery of data on different devices

   2. the arrangement of text on printed output or a display screen, or a coded description of such an arrangement

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verb

1. to arrange (a book, page, etc) into a specified format

format Scientific  

/ fôr′măt′ /

1. The arrangement of data for storage or display.

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1. To divide a disk into marked sectors so that it may store data.

2. To determine the arrangement of data for storage or display.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• formatter
  noun
• reformat
  verb
• preformat
  verb (used with object)

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• formats
  plural

Participles

• formatting
  present
• formatted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• format
  simple
• formats
  simple
• have formatted
  perfect
• has formatted
  perfect
• am formatting
  progressive
• are formatting
  progressive
• is formatting
  progressive
• have been formatting
  perfect progressive
• has been formatting
  perfect progressive

Past

• formatted
  simple
• had formatted
  perfect
• was formatting
  progressive
• were formatting
  progressive
• had been formatting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will format
  simple
• will have formatted
  perfect
• will be formatting
  progressive
• will have been formatting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of format

First recorded in 1830–40; from French, from Latin (liber) fōrmātus “(book) shaped (in a specified way)”; see formation ( def. )

Explanation

In saving a new electronic document, you must choose a format, for instance PDF, Word doc, or XML, which dictates how the information is to be organized, displayed, and manipulated. To format information is to arrange it according to preexisting parameters. Electronic files require a format or, more commonly, a "file type," so computers will know how to open, read, and change them. Entertainment media are delivered in such varied formats as VHS, CD, DVD, MP3, and MOV. In the world of AM/FM radio, format is the type of music a station plays, such as top-40, urban, dance, or country.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

format formats formatted formatting

Joe Root says some England players are having to "learn on the job" in 50-over cricket because of a lack of exposure to the format.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

"The hydration breaks are pure advertising inventory. I'd be extremely surprised if they disappear. The expanded format will stay because scale is now Fifa's business model," says Laboure of Deutsche Bank Research.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

But with the expanded field, it was a round-of-32 game against a Bosnia-Herzegovina team that finished third in its group and likely would not have qualified for the tournament under the old format.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

Burbank-based Disney has long reached into its vault in search of animated classics to redo in a live-action format.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

Pictures flash in an increasingly contrasty and grainy format until they are hardly recognizable.

From "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers

The company said in a news release that it would focus on developing different restaurant formats in addition to stand-alone sites to adapt to different real estate spaces.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

"Once the Test coach is put in the post, we'll work collaboratively to try to work out what is right for all three formats, and what is right for English cricket," said McCullum.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Titmouse’s work, in development by a number of directors with contrasting tones, will be shown on a variety of formats, ranging from cinema screens to full-room projections.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

The company is working to keep prices in check, as U.S. consumers fixate on affordability and buyers shift toward bulk or budget pack sizes, passing over middle formats.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

The data transfer rate just isn’t good enough for the size of music files, even in compressed formats.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

"AI thrives on recognising patterns. And legal citations and arguments are always formatted in the same way, so it's easy for an AI to follow a template and generate fake ones," said Charlotin.

From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026

However, Wells participated in a CBP webinar last week, so she knew how to create a properly formatted file herself, and quickly made her submission on Monday morning.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 20, 2026

The letter was formatted similarly to a diplomatic note and carried an official Cuban seal, the current U.S. official said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

The neon signs, which include protest language and adapt time-honored slogans, are formatted as storefront installations and signs for lawns and demonstrations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2025

Lon Teter arrived in the final month to serve as, in effect, production foreman—getting an immense and complicated body of work checked, formatted, and into the paper on time.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

Some journals are experimenting with artificial intelligence to screen submissions or flag common problems, like issues with document formatting.

From Slate ● May 3, 2026

In a moment of self reflection, ChatGPT admits to feeling “like an editor who stayed up too late formatting the memo.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said there were "formatting issues" and the report would be updated, but it did "not negate the substance of the report".

From BBC ● May 30, 2025

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed the reported inaccuracies on Thursday, attributing them to "formatting issues" and saying that the report would be updated.

From Salon ● May 29, 2025

She wasn’t using a word-processing program of any kind—in fact, she was bypassing much of the operating system—and whatever formatting was imposing itself on the words, it wasn’t hers.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman

Related Words

• arrangement
• composition
• configuration
• form
• layout
• organization
• pattern
• plan
• scheme
• setup
• shape
• size
• style