upload

American  

[uhp-lohd] / ˈʌpˌloʊd /

verb (used with object)

• uploads,
  present (3rd person singular)
• uploaded,
  past participle,  past
• uploading
  present participle

1. to transfer (software, data, character sets, etc.) from a smaller to a larger computer.

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noun

• uploads
  plural

1. software, data, etc., that has been uploaded.

2. the act or process of uploading.

upload British  

/ ʌpˈləʊd /

verb

1. (tr) to copy or transfer (data or a program) from one's own computer into the memory of another computer Compare download

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upload Scientific  

/ ŭp′lōd′ /

1. To transfer data or programs from one's own computer or digital device to a server or host computer.

2. Compare download

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• uploads
  plural

Participles

• uploading
  present
• uploaded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• upload
  simple
• uploads
  simple
• have uploaded
  perfect
• has uploaded
  perfect
• am uploading
  progressive
• are uploading
  progressive
• is uploading
  progressive
• have been uploading
  perfect progressive
• has been uploading
  perfect progressive

Past

• uploaded
  simple
• had uploaded
  perfect
• was uploading
  progressive
• were uploading
  progressive
• had been uploading
  perfect progressive

Future

• will upload
  simple
• will have uploaded
  perfect
• will be uploading
  progressive
• will have been uploading
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of upload

up- + load

Explanation

When you send any kind of data from your computer to the internet, you upload it. Want to change your social media profile picture? Just upload a new photo — maybe that one of you and your cat dressed in matching sweaters! Any time you share photos online, submit an assignment to the school website, or even send an email, you upload data. Typically this means transferring electronic information from an individual computer to a larger network or server. To download is the exact opposite — when you download something, you transfer it from a server to your computer. Both words date from about 1980.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

upload uploads uploaded uploading

Instead, I found an option to upload pay stubs manually.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

Some, like Myreader, let users upload any book, whether or not it's under copyright, and then connect it to an AI interface.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

Worn on officers’ chests, the devices record a first-person view of every encounter in real time and upload it to the cloud for later review.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Lloyds has launched a tool which allows people buying things online, such as tickets, to upload a picture and check whether it appears genuine.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

Yes, Lydia got plenty of pictures, as usual, but he wanted to send Amelia photos of himself and the master and upload them to the Bloodfall forums as soon as possible.

From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner

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

Unfortunately, episodes of “Wishbone” aren’t available to stream, though low-resolution uploads of episodes can be found on YouTube, or you can buy used “Wishbone” VHS tapes or DVDs online.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026

To avoid security and privacy risks, no code runs on your device and data access is limited to explicit uploads.

From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2026

To show how it works, he uploads a photo of himself to the system.

From Barron's ● Mar. 17, 2026

Or people who smell funny, wear sweatpants, or don’t like her Instagram posts as soon as she uploads them.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish

The agents created new accounts on RubyGems every two-to-three minutes and uploaded hundreds of files that seemed like spam to the RubyGems security team.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

In the days since Parton’s death, commenters have flocked to the “Travelin’ Thru” music video, a compilation of pixels rendered in 240p, uploaded to an archaic version of YouTube some 19 years ago.

From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026

“They got it all!” wrote Amabile, who uploaded an Instagram carousel with pictures of himself post-surgery on Aug. 6.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

Data is uploaded to Flock's cloud and can be shared with subscribers.

From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026

In case of error they can’t be uploaded like the whole Boston curriculum—there are no spares in case one is lost.

From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson

Oliver has also been supported by BBC Introducing since first uploading her music in 2022.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

Within 24 hours of uploading his techno version of “Head, Shoulders” to TikTok, the video had hundreds of thousands of views.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Not everyone is convinced, as each release of new material has invited viewers to send cryptocurrency "donations" to the user uploading them.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

A growing share of those patients are uploading their test results straight into AI chatbots, leaving some medical professionals concerned about hallucinations, misinterpretations and privacy issues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

“So, in the event of a self-destruct initiation, the only way to stop the sequencing is by making and uploading a full PowerPoint presentation? “

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray