desktop

noun desk·top \ ˈdesk-ˌtäp \

|Updated on: 11 Aug 2018

Definition of desktop

1 : the top surface of a desk; also : an area or window on a computer screen in which icons are arranged in a manner analogous to objects on top of a desk

2 : a desktop computer

See desktop defined for English-language learners

See desktop defined for kids

Examples of desktop in a Sentence

The desktop was covered with books and stacks of papers.
He created a new folder on his desktop.

Recent Examples of desktop from the Web

The Panjiva analysis shows that $50 billion worth of goods subject to tariffs are electronics, including $17.4 billion in PC components and $5.2 billion in desktop computers.

— New York Times, "Trade War With China in Aisle 12," 12 July 2018
At the time, the Internet had become a part of daily life, but on desktop computers.

— Billboard, "Eerie Waves: Memories of an Abandoned Radio Home, From Dido to Whitesnake's David Coverdale (& the Incredible Hulk)," 6 July 2018
But, from a power perspective at least, if a 4-terabyte, six-core MacBook Pro does in fact mean people can step away from their desktop workstations and produce heavy multimedia projects in the field, that is a marked improvement.

— lauren goode, WIRED, "Apple's MacBook Pros Get Faster Chips, New Keyboards (Kinda)," 12 July 2018
The Go can plug into a monitor for a more traditional desktop experience.

— hayley tsukayama, courant.com, "Microsoft Shrinks The Surface To A Purse-Friendly Size," 11 July 2018
The posters were the students’ desktop publishing final project in Rains’ classes.

— deborah kadin, chicagotribune.com, "'They were the rock stars': River Forest teens honored for boosting students' waste disposal practices," 10 July 2018
The officers took a computer tower, desktop, flash drives, SD cards, tablets, multiple CDs, floppy disks, cellphones, a camcorder and a hard drive, court records show.

— becky jacobs, Post-Tribune, "Hobart man accused of child porn offenses; gets federal court date," 15 June 2018
Related Apart from the fine, the case strikes at the core of Google’s advertising business, which the company says is growing much faster on mobile devices than on traditional desktop computers.

— sam schechner, WSJ, "Google to Face Multibillion-Euro European Union Antitrust Fine," 10 July 2018
YouTube's ad-free service plays on a new mobile app and desktop product and offers millions of songs, including emerging artists.

— doreen christensen, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Free 3-month YouTube Music Premium subscription," 27 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'desktop.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of desktop

1925

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

desktop

adjective

Definition of desktop

: of a size that can be conveniently used on a desk or table

desktop computers

— compare laptop — see also desktop publishing

See desktop defined for English-language learners

Examples of desktop in a Sentence

She is working on a desktop video project.

Recent Examples of desktop from the Web

Installing Amazon Assistant will enable desktop notifications for Prime Day deals and offer $5 off a Prime Day order of $25 or more.

— jessica suriano, azcentral, "How to shop like a pro during Amazon Prime Day," 12 July 2018
The availability of applications in the Store is improving, but for now there remains large functional gaps that only desktop applications can fill.

— peter bright, Ars Technica, "Latest Windows preview suggests you’ll be able to turn S Mode on and off," 7 June 2018
Seeing our online readership shift from a predominantly desktop audience to a much larger smartphone audience underscored the need for our product and technology teams to prioritize mobile-first story forms.

— New York Times, "Metrics Are Everywhere in Media. Here’s How They Help.," 23 May 2018
According to NetMarketShare, Chrome is now used by 60 percent of web users, both on mobile and desktop devices, and Firefox looks respectable with 12 percent of desktops, but is almost a rounding error with only 0.6 percent of mobile devices.

— vlad savov, The Verge, "It’s time to give Firefox a fresh chance," 15 Apr. 2018
Integrated graphics are the mainstay of both mobile and desktop computing.

— peter bright, Ars Technica, "AMD’s 2018 roadmap: Desktop APUs in February, second-generation Ryzen in April," 8 Jan. 2018
The new rule does, however, allow for what are known as remote mirroring apps, like Steam Link, to contain an app store so long as purchases through that app store are processed on the desktop PC, and not on the iPhone or iPad itself.

— nick statt, The Verge, "Apple revises App Store rules after rejecting Valve’s game streaming Steam Link app," 5 June 2018
Apple competitor Microsoft began the process of merging its tablet and desktop software long ago—a process that is mostly complete.

— samuel axon, Ars Technica, "Tim Cook on merging macOS and iOS: “I don’t think that’s what users want”," 19 Apr. 2018
Apple isn’t going there, either, but a few competing Android manufacturers are combining the mobile and desktop worlds.

— david pierce, WSJ, "Your Smartphone Is the Best Computer You Own," 23 May 2018

First Known Use of desktop

1958

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

DESKTOP Defined for English Language Learners

desktop

noun

Definition of desktop for English Language Learners

: the top surface of a desk
: a computer that is designed to be used on a desk or table : a desktop computer
: an area or window on a computer screen in which small pictures (called icons) are arranged like objects on top of a desk