computing
Americannoun
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the use of a computer to process data or perform calculations.
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the act of calculating or reckoning.
noun
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the activity of using computers and writing programs for them
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the study of computers and their implications
adjective
Etymology
Origin of computing
Explanation
Computing is the act of calculating something––adding it up, multiplying it, or doing more complex math functions to it. Computers are named for this process, because they can compute faster than most people. The verb compute comes from a Latin word for pruning. You can think of it like cleaning up piles of data to get a clear result. If you run a shop and have lots of figures, for items sold and returned, and money paid for salaries and overhead, then you'll have to do some computing to know how much money you actually earned that day. It's also a type of engineering.
Vocabulary lists containing computing
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.
The stock has surged in 2026 on the back of insatiable demand for computing, rising 62% so far this year and nearly 30% in the last five trading sessions alone.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026
Data centers—the facilities that house the equipment powering AI and computing systems—are springing up across the country to fuel AI demand.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
Musk’s company has sought regulatory permission to send up to one million data center satellites into space, while Blue Origin last month filed for permission to deploy nearly 52,000 satellites bearing AI computing payloads.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
The deal includes chip design, packaging, and networking to build out the massive computing foundation to deliver what Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls “personal superintelligence” to billions of people.
From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026
By the early 1970s, Michigan had enough computing power that a hundred people could be programming simultaneously in the Computer Center.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
