VPN

noun

ˌvē-ˌpē-ˈen 

plural VPNs

: a private computer network that functions over a public network : virtual private network

As more employees connect to their office networks from home, they expose the company to attack. A VPN lets companies use the Internet as a secure pathway into their existing network.

—Michael Bertin

VPNs help cloak your browsing information from your internet provider. When you use VPN software, your device connects to a VPN provider's servers. That way, all your web traffic passes through the VPN provider's internet connection.

—Brian X. Chen

Examples of VPN in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

What doesn’t work to block these trackers? Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) will not block these trackers. —Tomas Apodaca, USA Today, 18 June 2025

The other apps — Turbo VPN and VPN Proxy Master, which are also available on the Google Play Store, as well as three others that Google offers — are all still available. —Kevin Collier, NBC news, 12 June 2025

How to watch Love Triangle Australia in the US at a glance Channel: Channel 4, Stan. VPN to use: Express VPN, Nord VPN, Pure VPN Once that’s done, all three must go through the remainder of the experiment as a trio – moving in together and triple dating! —Lea Veloso, StyleCaster, 16 May 2025

Free users of Proton VPN can use it to protect one device at a time and can’t choose which country the VPN connects through. —PC Magazine, 14 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1984, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

VPN

noun

ˌvē-ˌpē-ˈen

: virtual private network