Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for CPU. Search instead for LPU.
Synonyms

CPU

American  

abbreviation

Computers.

  1. central processing unit: the key component of a computer system, which contains the circuitry necessary to interpret and execute program instructions.

CPU British  

abbreviation

  1. central processing unit

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
CPU Scientific  

  1. Abbreviation of central processing unit

CPU Cultural  

  1. An abbreviation for c entral p rocessing u nit. The “brain” of a computer, the CPU is where data manipulation actually takes place. The results of these manipulations are then stored in the computer memory. Microprocessors perform this function in personal computers.

Etymology

Origin of CPU

First recorded in 1965–70

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.

While AI training workloads require one CPU for every eight graphics processing units, Intel said on its earnings call last week that the ratio could flip as workloads shift to inference.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 28, 2026

The earnings print was a positive sign for the “once sleepy” central processing unit, or CPU, market, according to D.A.

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026

Both AMD and Intel are “the obvious beneficiaries” of growing CPU demand, Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore said.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 24, 2026

“In recent months, we have seen clear signs that the CPU is reinserting itself as the indispensable foundation of the AI era,” he said on the company’s Thursday first-quarter earnings call.

From Barron's • Apr. 24, 2026

I scoot CPU off my lap and climb into the back with her.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

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.