USB

American

abbreviation

Computers.

universal serial bus: an external serial bus interface standard for connecting peripheral devices to a computer, as in a or .

USB British

abbreviation

Universal Serial Bus: a standard for connection sockets on computers and other electronic equipment

"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 USB

First recorded in 1995

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.

"Just as a USB adapter allows devices with different connectors to work together, Floquet magnons could bridge frequencies that would otherwise remain incompatible."

From Science Daily • Mar. 27, 2026

Daniel told them the combination to a safe where he stored his hardware wallet, which was about the size of a USB drive.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

More than a dozen USB chargers overheated, including one that reached 216 degrees Fahrenheit, just above the boiling temperature of water.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 18, 2025

He said such an operation was complex, likely requiring the use of a device such as a USB key to install the software, a move that would need "complicity within the crew".

From Barron's • Dec. 17, 2025

But in both my Mom bag and my Dad bag I carry notebook paper and pencils, a phone charger, a wallet, a USB thumb drive, and my books.

From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper

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