database

noun

da·​ta·​base ˈdā-tə-ˌbās 

ˈda-

also ˈdä-

computers

: a usually large collection of data organized especially for rapid search and retrieval (as by a computer)

an online database

database transitive verb

Examples of database in a Sentence

All of our customers' information was kept in a database.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Silver Rail Elementary tragedy is the 36th shooting in the United States this year on K-12 school grounds, according to CNN’s analysis of multiple databases, including the Gun Violence Archive. — Alaa Elassar, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026

The court ruled that the department lacked authority to collect state voter files, compare them with federal citizenship databases and use those comparisons to press states to remove voters deemed potentially ineligible. — Thom Reilly, The Conversation, 16 Oct. 2026

An agent reads a ticket, retrieves a document, queries a database, calls a tool, maybe hands off to a second agent, and only then responds. — Osman Koc, Forbes.com, 16 Oct. 2026

The disclosure follows a September report by cybersecurity nonprofit Transluce revealing that OpenAI agents attempted to hack public databases and an Australian government website simply to complete basic research tasks. — Camila Grigera Naón, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1962, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for database

• aerospace
• anatase
• anyplace
• commonplace
• cyberspace
• diabase
• diastase
• dnase
• elastase
• fireplace
• hyperspace
• interface

Kids Definition

database

noun

da·​ta·​base ˈdāt-ə-ˌbās 

ˈdat-

also ˈdät-

: a collection of data that is organized especially to be used by a computer