1
: a place in which public records or historical materials (such as documents) are preserved
an archive of historical manuscripts
a film archive
also
: the material preserved
—often used in plural
reading through the archives
2
: a repository or collection especially of information
archived; archiving
: to file or collect in or as if in an archive
archive documents
archived tissue samples
Examples of archive in a Sentence
Verb
The organization was devoted to cataloging and archiving printed materials on the labor movement.
She archived her e-mail messages in a folder on her hard drive.
a collection of archived articles
Recent Examples on the Web
Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 24 Oct. 2025
Director and producer Kristen Lappas learned of SubTropolis and the archives from Lara Krug, the Chiefs’ vice president and chief media and marketing officer.
—Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 24 Oct. 2025
Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 23 Oct. 2025
As recently as 10 days ago, however, Condé Nast made no mention of fur on the sustainability page of its website, according to screenshots on The Wayback Machine, a tool that archives webpages.
—Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for archive
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Noun
Hesse shot over 200 hours of documentary footage in the early 1960s, creating an archive of negatives that capture the first few chapters of a nation’s history.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 24 Oct. 2025
Director and producer Kristen Lappas learned of SubTropolis and the archives from Lara Krug, the Chiefs’ vice president and chief media and marketing officer.
—Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 24 Oct. 2025
Verb
Khelfa took advantage of a house move a few years ago to have all her pieces cleaned and archived, transferring many to a storage unit outside Paris.
—Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 23 Oct. 2025
As recently as 10 days ago, however, Condé Nast made no mention of fur on the sustainability page of its website, according to screenshots on The Wayback Machine, a tool that archives webpages.
—Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for archive
Cite this Entry
“Archive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/archive. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
archive
1 of 2 noun
ar·chive
ˈär-ˌkīv 
1
: a place in which public records or historical documents are preserved
also
: the material preserved
—usually used in plural
2
: a collection of information
archive
2 of 2 verb
archived; archiving
: to file or collect in or as if in an archive
was archiving documents
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