download
Americanverb (used with object)
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downloads,
present (3rd person singular)
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downloaded,
past participle, past
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downloading
present participle
noun
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downloads
plural
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software, data, etc., that has been downloaded.
the best free music downloads.
-
the act or process of downloading.
verb
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to copy or transfer (data or a program) into the memory of one computer system from a larger one
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to broadcast specialist programmes, for such groups as doctors, outside normal broadcasting hours. They are often recorded on video tapes and viewed later Compare upload
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to delegate or assign (work, responsibilities, costs, etc) to a someone at a lower level of an organization; off-load
noun
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To transfer data or programs from a server or host computer to one's own computer or digital device.
-
Compare upload
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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downloadsimple
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downloadssimple
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have downloadedperfect
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has downloadedperfect
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am downloadingprogressive
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are downloadingprogressive
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is downloadingprogressive
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have been downloadingperfect progressive
-
has been downloadingperfect progressive
Past
-
downloadedsimple
-
had downloadedperfect
-
was downloadingprogressive
-
were downloadingprogressive
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had been downloadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of download
Explanation
When you've got files on one computer that you need to transfer onto another, you'll need to download or copy the data onto a portable drive to move it. Back before the internet brought the world to our fingers, the word download was used mainly to describe the process of copying files or data from one computer to another. But these days, you can download or copy, just about anything from the internet — from music to movies to books. Another thing you can download, if you aren't careful, is a virus, so be wary before you go transferring all kinds of files to your computer.
Vocabulary lists containing download
Computer Science and Technology - Introductory
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Computer Science and Technology - Middle School
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Computer Science and Technology - High School
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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:
Users might therefore argue that they have separate First Amendment rights to receive information from Chinese chatbots and to download their model weights.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Cable internet providers such as Cox or Xfinity have cheaper plans in many regions, but upload and download speeds are not as fast as with fiber.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Most AI models being developed in China are open source, meaning they are built and then made freely available online for anyone with the proper computer equipment to download and use.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
When the app is released, fans can download it to their phones and enter their account information to get their tickets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
It’s going to take a while to download everything, but it’s running now.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
It has been downloaded 12 million times in 2026 alone, according to director Jessie Barry - who says it has had 42 million downloads overall.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The FT’s article reports that the Chinese government discussed restricting the transfer of important data abroad and limiting the downloads of models by foreign users.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Strike 3 says it can show that the downloads weren’t the work of random users.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
The podcast version, available on platforms including Apple and Spotify, has topped one billion downloads.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
On her lunch break, Irene downloads the Nirvana album for herself.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
Users who have downloaded his app include a strip club owner, a Buddhist monk and parents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
By contrast, Meta and Nvidia are developing "open" models that can be downloaded and updated directly by users.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
Sean Harding downloaded Whatnot, a live-shopping app, after rekindling his childhood baseball-card collecting hobby.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
She put the app online for $1 a month, and within weeks people downloaded it thousands of times.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
There was an interesting graphics app I had downloaded and installed.
From "The Stars Beneath Our Feet" by David Barclay Moore
The airline is going back to one mile per dollar spent at the coffee chain from its current setup where you get miles for downloading money to your Starbucks Rewards card.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Trained entirely on a given pastor’s sermons and teaching, PastorGPT refreshes itself automatically each week by downloading and transcribing new sermon uploads from YouTube.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
It also argued that customers were in no way forced to use its products on Android and that downloading competing apps was just a tap away.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Meta, in its defense filings, says Strike 3 has offered no proof that Meta, as a corporation, was responsible for the downloading.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
Why spend all that time downloading a movie playing all over Chicago?
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
