Digital Technology. a software application, often a small, specialized program for mobile devices.
You’ll find numerous free photo editing apps in the app store on your smartphone.
The word processing app that comes with the laptop isn’t adequate for our publishing needs.
an application; a form to be filled out by an applicant.
I'm working on my college apps.
apparatus.
apparent.
appendix.
applied.
appointed.
approved.
approximate.
First recorded in 1985–90; shortening of application ( def. )
By shortening
An app is a program that's designed to be used on your computer, tablet, or mobile phone. If you don't have a weather app, how will you know whether or not to bring your raincoat? App is short for application. You can use it for any kind of computer application (like word processing or spreadsheets), but it usually refers to smartphones. If you have one, you've also got apps, for things like maps, banking, entertainment, to-do lists, and photo editing. Every so often, you'll also hear someone use app as shorthand for a restaurant appetizer: "I'd like to order some apps for the table, when you have a sec!"
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Apple Watch’s Health app is the most basic, though it’s end-to-end encrypted for privacy, even from Apple.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
The 2026 Siri overhaul aims to turn Apple’s virtual assistant into an AI agent, complete with a separate Siri app similar to what chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude have.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 6, 2026
Julie, who had been with her partner Tony Donohue from the age of 17 until his death in November 2020, described signing up to a dating app as "a really big step".
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
He also expects Apple to launch an independent Siri app that functions similarly to other AI apps by acting as an “interface for text, voice, and attachments.”
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
I’d opened the music app and shuffled all of my songs.
From "From the Desk of Zoe Washington" by Janae Marks
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.
