application programming interface

noun

variants or less commonly application program interface

computing

: a set of rules that allows programmers to develop software for a particular operating system without having to be completely familiar with that operating system

To fix this problem, trustbusters have installed a provision forcing Microsoft to disclose more information about its so-called application programming interfaces, or APIs.

—Businessweek

—abbreviation API

Examples of application programming interface in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Additionally, eligible organizations can access a one-time $1,000 application programming interface, or API, credit, as well as a free year of Claude Team for up to five premium seats. — Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2026

As data volumes and workloads expand, storage, bandwidth and application programming interface (API) costs can quickly escalate. — Nick Rogers, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026

The systems can communicate through an application programming interface (API), which allows information to pass between them. — David Schepp, Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Sep. 2026

Now, agents are capable of performing sophisticated workflows and traversing multiple applications by leveraging a critical artifact of modern computing, the application programming interface (API). — George C. Lee Ii, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1968, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for application programming interface

• abase
• airspace
• apace
• backspace
• biface
• birthplace
• blackface
• boldface
• bookcase
• braincase
• briefcase
• carcase