browser

American  

[brou-zer] / ˈbraʊ zər /

noun

1. a person or thing that browses.

2. Digital Technology. a software program that allows the user to find and read encoded documents in a form suitable for display, especially such a program for use on the internet.

   You may need to pause internet security features and refresh the page in your web browser to play the embedded videos.

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browser British  

/ ˈbraʊzə /

noun

1. a person or animal that browses

2. computing a software package that enables a user to find and read hypertext files, esp on the Internet

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browser Scientific  

/ brou′zər /

1. A program that accesses and displays files and other data available on the Internet and other networks. Entering a website's URL in the address window of a browser will bring up that website in the browser's main window.

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browser Cultural  

1. See Web browser.

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Other Word Forms

• nonbrowser noun

Etymology

Origin of browser

browse ( def. ) + -er ¹ ( def. ); browser def. 1 was first recorded in 1680–90, and browser def. 2 in 1980–85

Explanation

A browser is a looker: either a program that lets you surf the Internet or a person in a store who just looks around without buying. This is a word that has to do with looking around, otherwise known as browsing. You probably use web browsers, which allow you to see websites on a computer. But you could also be a browser if you go to a store and just look around. Being a browser is a good way to kill time, but as soon as you make a purchase, you've gone from being a browser to being a customer.

Example Sentences

Examples of practices it would clamp down on included sites using any technique which inserted "manipulative" pages into a user's browser history that stopped them from returning to the previous page.

From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026

I figured they probably had an online stream of their programming that I could access through my web browser.

From Slate • Apr. 12, 2026

An Anthropic blog post said weaknesses could be found in “every major operating system and every major web browser when directed by a user to do so.”

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

The company says that Claude Mythos Preview managed to find high-security vulnerabilities in every major web browser and operating system, capabilities too powerful to fall into the hands of bad actors.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

She has her phone in her hand, a web browser opened on the screen.

From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day