wiki
Americannoun
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wikis
plural
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(sometimes initial capital letter) a website that allows users to add, delete, or revise content by using a web browser: Students who contribute to the class review wiki may earn extra credit points on their exams.
The wiki has character descriptions and image galleries for every game in the franchise.
Students who contribute to the class review wiki may earn extra credit points on their exams.
Research and development team members should all have permission to edit the design wikis for all current projects.
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Also called wiki application, wiki engine. the software used to create a wiki.
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of wiki
First recorded in 1990–95; shortening of WikiWikiWeb, a software program developed by Howard G. “Ward” Cunningham (born 1949), U.S. computer programmer; from Hawaiian wikiwiki “very quick,” emphatic reduplication of wiki “quick.” Cunningham coined the name WikiWikiWeb after recalling that a Honolulu International Airport counter employee advised him to take the Wiki Wiki Shuttle (a shuttle bus that runs between the terminals of the airport); his original idea was to make WikiWikiWeb's pages readily editable by its users and initially thought about calling his program QuickWeb but changed his mind and named it WikiWikiWeb
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:
On obscure German wiki pages; on a popular online coding service; on four government websites in Australia; on a data portal run by the United Nations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
In 2010, it became a moderated wiki and now is run by about 170 international volunteer editors who wrangle 50 or more new submissions a day.
From New York Times ● May 21, 2023
But on the talk page that sits behind the wiki article, some users are up in arms about that specific wording.
From Slate ● Feb. 13, 2023
Many people see the banner ads on Wikipedia as something like the site’s version of a PBS fundraising drive—a bit annoying because they distract you from your regularly scheduled wiki browsing, but not particularly painful.
From Slate ● Dec. 2, 2022
“I’m deleting the Stevie James wiki and throwing away my books.”
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
The answer now and always has been various wikis or handy fan-created charts like this one:
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2024
Pageviews across D&D-related wikis rose 9% after the first official “Honor Among Thieves” trailer dropped.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2023
If you’re a really diehard person you’ll probably go on wikis and Reddit and really fall down the rabbit hole to figure out those things,” he says.
From The Verge ● Aug. 6, 2021
They are building fan wikis and trying to connect all the dots of the bigger picture.
From Salon ● May 15, 2021
Technology improvements made it possible five years later with content aggregators, mash-up, wikis, and large scale content management.
From The eBook is 40 (1971-2011) by Marie Lebert
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.
