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PDF

American

abbreviation

Digital Technology.

portable document format:
1. a file format that makes it possible to display text and graphics in the same fixed layout on any computer screen.
2. a document or file in this format.

PDF British

abbreviation

portable document format: a format in which documents may be viewed

"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

Etymology

Origin of PDF

First recorded in 1990–95

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.

This category represents Adobe’s Document Cloud business, which includes PDF and e-signature tools.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 12, 2026

When the original of one of those records was attached to an email obtained in discovery, Myers found that it had been extensively revised before the PDF conversion.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2026

Another blow came in 1993, when Adobe co-founder John Warnock led the team that invented the PDF, an all-purpose digital format that could handle almost any document.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 15, 2025

Having a companion PDF allowed us to not taunt you with descriptions of recipes you had no ability to make.

From Salon • Jan. 7, 2025

Two seconds later, I printed out the PDF he sent me, which listed a whole bunch of different math words.

From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023