address

American  

[uh-dres, ad-res, uh-dres] / əˈdrɛs, ˈæd rɛs, əˈdrɛs /

noun

• addresses
  plural

1. a speech or written statement, usually formal, directed to a particular group of persons.

   the president's address on the state of the economy.

   Synonyms:

   lecture, discourse

2. a direction as to the intended recipient, written on or attached to a piece of mail.

3. the place or the name of the place where a person, organization, or the like is located or may be reached.

   What is your address when you're in Des Moines?

4. manner of speaking to persons; personal bearing in conversation.

5. skillful and expeditious management; ready skill; dispatch.

   to handle a matter with address.

   Synonyms:

   tact, ingenuity, cleverness, adroitness

6. Computers.

   1. a label, as an integer, symbol, or other set of characters, designating a location, register, etc., where information is stored in computer memory.

   2. a set of characters designating an email account.

      Her email address ends in “.net,” not “.com.”

   3. a set of characters designating the location of a website or a particular computer or other device on a network.

      He visits that website so often that its complete address comes up whenever he types its first letter into the address bar.

7. Government. a request to the executive by the legislature to remove a judge for unfitness.

8. Usually addresses. attentions paid by a suitor or lover; courtship.

9. Usually Address. the reply to the king's speech in the English Parliament.

10. Obsolete. preparation.

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verb (used with object)

• addresses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• addressed,
  past participle,  past
• addrest,
  past participle,  past (Archaic)
• addressing
  present participle

1. to direct a speech or written statement to.

   to address an assembly.

2. to use a specified form or title in speaking or writing to.

   Address the president as “Mr. President.”

3. to direct to the attention.

   He addressed his remarks to the lawyers in the audience.

4. to apply in speech (used reflexively, usually followed byto ).

   He addressed himself to the leader.

5. to deal with or discuss.

   to address the issues.

6. to put the directions for delivery on.

   to address a letter.

7. Commerce. to consign or entrust to the care of another, as agent or factor.

8. to direct the energy or efforts of (usually followed byto ).

   He addressed himself to the task.

9. Computers. to direct (data) to a specified memory location in a computer.

10. Golf. to take a stance and place the head of the club behind (the ball) preparatory to hitting it.

11. Obsolete. to woo; court.

12. Archaic. to give direction to; aim.

13. Obsolete. to prepare.

verb (used without object)

Obsolete.

• addresses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• addressed,
  past participle,  past
• addrest,
  past participle,  past (Archaic)
• addressing
  present participle

1. to make an appeal.

2. to make preparations.

address British  

/ əˈdrɛs /

noun

1. the conventional form by which the location of a building is described

2. the written form of this, as on a letter or parcel, preceded by the name of the person or organization for whom it is intended

3. the place at which someone lives

4. a speech or written communication, esp one of a formal nature

5. skilfulness or tact

6. archaic manner or style of speaking or conversation

7. computing a number giving the location of a piece of stored information See also direct access

8. government a statement of the opinions or wishes of either or both Houses of Parliament that is sent to the sovereign

9. the alignment or position of a part, component, etc, that permits correct assembly or fitting

10. (usually plural) expressions of affection made by a man in courting a woman

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verb

1. to mark (a letter, parcel, etc) with an address

2. to speak to, refer to in speaking, or deliver a speech to

3. (used reflexively; foll by to)

   1. to speak or write to

      he addressed himself to the chairman

   2. to apply oneself to

      he addressed himself to the task

4. to direct (a message, warning, etc) to the attention of

5. to consign or entrust (a ship or a ship's cargo) to a factor, merchant, etc

6. to adopt a position facing (the ball in golf, a partner in a dance, the target in archery, etc)

7. to treat of; deal with

   chapter 10 addresses the problem of transitivity

8. an archaic word for woo

Synonym Usage

See speech.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• addresser
  noun
• addressor
  noun
• preaddress
  noun
• readdress
  verb (used with object)
• half-addressed
  adjective
• unaddressed
  adjective
• well-addressed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• addresses
  plural

Participles

• addressing
  present
• addressed
  past
• addrest
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• address
  simple
• addresses
  simple
• have addressed
  perfect
• have addrest
  perfect
• has addressed
  perfect
• has addrest
  perfect
• am addressing
  progressive
• are addressing
  progressive
• is addressing
  progressive
• have been addressing
  perfect progressive
• has been addressing
  perfect progressive

Past

• addressed
  simple
• addrest
  simple
• had addressed
  perfect
• had addrest
  perfect
• was addressing
  progressive
• were addressing
  progressive
• had been addressing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will address
  simple
• will have addressed
  perfect
• will have addrest
  perfect
• will be addressing
  progressive
• will have been addressing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of address

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English adressen “to adorn,” from Middle French adresser; see a- ⁵, dress

Explanation

When you are a student and you want to address your teacher, it's generally safer to call her Ms. and not address her by her first name, Esmeralda. Address is a word that's long been associated with correspondence — the street number, city, state, and postal code that must be on the front of any envelope if it's going to arrive at its destination. In the digital age, an address has also come to mean the location where you might e-mail your friend pictures of your dog dressed up in a birthday hat. If you wanted to tell that friend about your dog's birthday party in person, you might address her directly. Address to describe a way of speaking is usually reserved for more formal occasions, such as when the President addresses the nation.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

address addresses addressed addrest addressing

Ahead of her address, von der Leyen received competing appeals from children's rights groups, parents and Big Tech.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

The report added that the defence department is now working to "streamline procurement processes and production lead times" to address the shortages and "respond rapidly to a contingency".

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

Later Tuesday, Carney was to fly to Strasbourg, France, where he will become the first head of government to attend the State of the European Union address.

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

Mike Rogers, a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and the Republican nominee for Michigan’s open Senate seat, says he supports slowing AI development and would work to address the technology through legislation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

It’s the trusty address book he and Mom used to share.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

The discovery addresses a major question in geology: how early did materials begin moving between Earth's surface and its deep interior?

From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026

Police executed warrants at addresses in Bellshill and Motherwell on Friday and also recovered four stolen vehicles.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

There are many good reasons you may not be allowed to have two homes with two separate postal addresses under local zoning rules.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

Yet all but one was listed for rent during the reporting periods, and some current residents and neighbors at those addresses confirmed that the properties were rented, the news organizations found.

From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026

This NAfME post addresses both issues and gives guidance to mediate its effects in the classroom.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

The family also addressed “disturbing” social media posts targeting the blogger for his past behavior bullying celebrities through his coverage, and reminded the public that Hilton’s three children came close to losing their father.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Canada will remain a crucial partner for the United States in "key areas," Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday as he addressed a meeting of top global investors.

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

Ruchir Swarup, partner and CIO at KKR, addressed the financial complexities of scaling AI across the massive alternative asset manager.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Envelopes have already been loaded with ballots and addressed.

From Slate ● Sep. 15, 2026

“June”—Anna May addressed the thick-set older woman with unruly brown hair poking out from under her hat—“this is my friend Ruby Chan.”

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu

The talker who cavils at anything that is said stops conversation more than if he answered only yes or no to all remarks addrest to him.

From Conversation What to Say and How to Say it by Mary Greer Conklin

It was addrest to Louis de Santangel, the treasurer of King Ferdinand of Spain.

From Great Epochs in American History, Volume I. Voyages Of Discovery And Early Explorations: 1000 A.D.-1682 by Francis W. (Francis Whiting) Halsey

The bishop, finding his entreaties useless, rose and addrest himself to his melancholy mission.

From The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. IX (of X) - America - I by Henry Cabot Lodge

They felt, too, the superiority of character which addrest all men with a native authority.

From The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. IX (of X) - America - I by Henry Cabot Lodge

The gods were next addrest with expiations and recourse had to the Sibyl's books.

From The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume II (of X) - Rome by Francis W. (Francis Whiting) Halsey

“CMS closely monitors the implementation of all models, including system performance and denial patterns, and is actively addressing issues as they arise,” CMS said in a statement to MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

Dario Amodei, CEO of Claude-maker Anthropic, warned Saturday that "addressing the risks requires even more prudence".

From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026

The findings suggest that changing the metabolic signals controlling access to inflammatory genes could offer a new strategy for addressing chronic inflammation and declining tissue function during aging.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026

Donovan said the type of funding Airbnb is providing can have an outsize impact by unlocking significantly more funding for housing projects, but addressing the housing shortfall nationwide will take tens of billions of dollars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Handsome would have been distracted by his hand mirror long before Duane talked about the merits of listening and paying attention to whom you are addressing.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

Related Words

• ZIP code
• home
• location
• number