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download

nounverbcommon in dialogue

  • United States//ˈdaʊnˌloʊd//
  • //ˈdaʊnˌləʊd//

A file transfer to a given computer or device from a remote one through a network connection.

noun

  1. 1

    A file transfer to a given computer or device from a remote one through a network connection.

    The download took longer than I expected.

  2. 2

    A file that has been or is intended to be transferred in this way.

    I got the download but it wouldn't work on my computer.

    The blue sites will be blocked on all school computers, and no email or instant messaging will be set up or permitted. These student computers would strictly be for school use. Teachers will be able to request downloads from students' jumpdrives.

Etymology

From down- + load. Verbal form first appears c. 1962 in the Wichita Falls (Texas) Times. Nominal form first appears c. 1977 in Scientific American.

verb

  1. 1

    To transfer data to a given computer from a remote one via a network.

    You can download a trial version of the program for thirty days to determine whether you want to purchase the full version.

    You can download Google's deskbar for free […]

    Finally, some e-content must first be downloaded to a computer before being transferred to a tablet or other mobile device for viewing.

    With Apple’s solar farm, customers could now be confident that downloading an app or video-chatting a friend would not increase carbon pollution, Jackson said.

  2. 2

    Synonym of upload: to send data from a given computer to a remote one.

  3. 3

    Synonym of copy: to transfer data to or from removable media.

    When I was your age, there were no flash drives. I needed to download photos to a CD-ROM.

  4. 4

    Synonym of install: to load software forced.

  5. 5

    To load a gun (especially a muzzle-loader) with less propellant than its designed load.

  6. 6

    To transfer jurisdiction and responsibility of a government asset or service to a lower level of government.

    In 1997, The Harris government also downloaded a number of social services to municipal governments, including affordable housing.

Forms

plural
downloads
past tense
downloaded
past participle
downloaded
present participle
downloading
third person singular
downloads
The neighbouring pagesAlphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.

Lexical content from Wiktionary, under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source entry · Data version 2026-08-23

Rank among the words of the OpenSubtitles 2018 corpus — film and television subtitles, so spoken rather than written usage (CC BY-SA 3.0).