DDoS

abbreviation or noun

ˈdē-ˌdäs How to pronounce DDoS (audio)
ˌdē-ˌdē-ˌō-ˈes
: distributed denial of service
In the last couple of days they've launched DDoSes on the Web sites of Visa, MasterCard, and various other entities …Farhad Manjoo
a DDoS attack

Examples of DDoS in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
It’s considered one of the most powerful DDoS botnets ever. Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2025 Volumetric DDoS Protection The first layer to build is volumetric DDoS protection. Alexander Krizhanovsky, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025 Last October, the platform was targeted by DDoS attacks and was offline for several days. PC Magazine, 25 July 2025 For one, such attacks cause the DDoS to be delivered from a wide variety of destinations. ArsTechnica, 20 June 2025 Why, then, did these DDoS attacks cause outages for X? Lily Hay Newman, WIRED, 11 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

2000, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of DDoS was in 2000

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Cite this Entry

“DDoS.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/DDoS. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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