app

1 of 2

noun

ˈap 

1

: application sense 3

a word processing app

especially : an application designed for a mobile device (such as a smartphone)

Health-insurance companies and government officials alike are drawn to the ability of smartphone apps to reach tough-to-access patients, to effect long-term lifestyle changes, and to do it all at a very low cost.

—Marcellus Hall

see also killer app

2

informal : appetizer

… the hidden video monitors that tell the cooks when the V.I.P.'s have finished their apps …

—Thomas McNamee

app

2 of 2

abbreviation

1

apparatus

2

appendix

3

appliance

Examples of app in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The internet mourned when Twitter shuttered the six-second, looping video app Vine in 2017. — Clare Duffy, CNN Money, 23 Aug. 2026

Everything feels intuitive, especially thanks to the hotel’s seamless digital app. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Aug. 2026

Kahoot Appears Inside ChatGPT Kahoot’s new ChatGPT app may solve a small but persistent classroom annoyance for many educators who have to copy and paste content across the apps. — Dan Fitzpatrick, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026

The app now allows tipsters to report 46 specific kinds of park problems, instead of just submitting general parks complaints. — Point Loma-Ob Monthly, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1981, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing app

• killer app

Rhymes for app

• cap
• chap
• clap
• crap
• flap
• frap
• gap
• hap
• lap
• nap
• nappe
• pap

Kids Definition

app

noun

ˈap

1

: application sense 6

2

informal : appetizer

Medical Definition

app

1 of 2 abbreviation

appendix

APP

2 of 2 abbreviation

amyloid precursor protein

Legal Definition

App

abbreviation

Appeals