disk

1 of 2

noun

variants or disc
plural disks or discs
1
a
: the seemingly flat figure of a celestial body
the solar disk
b
archaic : discus
2
usually disc : any of various rounded and flattened animal anatomical structures
especially : intervertebral disc see also slipped disc
3
: the central part of the flower head of a typical composite made up of closely packed tubular flowers
4
: a thin circular object: such as
a
usually disc : a phonograph record
b
: a round flat plate coated with a magnetic substance on which data for a computer is stored
c
usually disc : optical disk: such as
(1)
(2)
: cd
5
usually disc : one of the concave circular steel tools with sharpened edge making up the working part of a disc harrow or plow
also : an implement employing such tools
disklike adjective
or disclike
disklike particles

Illustration of disk

Illustration of disk
  • disk 3 D

disk

2 of 2

verb

variants or disc
disked or disced; disking or discing; disks or discs

transitive verb

: to cultivate with an implement (such as a harrow or plow) that turns and loosens the soil with a series of discs

Examples of disk in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Using a food processor fitted with the shredding disk, or a box grater on the largest hole, grate the potatoes. Kate Bradshaw, The Mercury News, 15 Apr. 2024 The eerily perfect replacement of our sun’s disk by an equal-size black orb, followed by the startling appearance of previously invisible and dramatic regions of illumination surrounding it—that kind of eclipse demands very particular conditions. Adam Frank, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2024 The dial, with its rotating disk system of telling time, is now colored in a eucalyptus shade of green that makes a fashion statement beyond the unconventional design. Paige Reddinger, Robb Report, 1 Apr. 2024 California will receive a lesser, but still remarkable show, a partial solar eclipse, where the sun will look like a giant yellow disk with a bite taken out of it Monday morning. Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 8 Apr. 2024 The rare event, where the moon completely blots out the sun's disk causing a brief period of darkness in the middle of the day, will be unusually accessible to millions of people. USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2024 During this type of eclipse, the moon will appear as a dark disk on top of the sun, with a bright ring around it. Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 8 Apr. 2024 The midday gray blackening, then brightening, on account of a remote and veiled disk of sun and moon. John Penner, Los Angeles Times, 6 Apr. 2024 Executive chef Andreina Ruiz heads the kitchen where flat disks of dough prove in the fridge for 24 hours. The Arizona Republic, 4 Apr. 2024
Verb
Working each process also takes up memory pages in memory, and filling up your allotment can move memory pages to disk, from which a process really does not want to work. Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 15 Aug. 2023 How To Store Double Pie Crust Wrap and chill the pie dough disks for at least two hours, or up to two days for the freshest results. Nancie McDermott, Southern Living, 2 Nov. 2023 To make the process more stealthy, the code drops no files to disk. Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 16 Feb. 2023 The exploit chain starts with writing a malicious DLL to disk from the sandboxed Adobe Reader renderer process. Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 27 July 2022 The soil can be disked, but preparation is not necessary if the seed is placed in full sun and makes contact with the soil. Calvin Finch, ExpressNews.com, 13 Sep. 2019 Quick tip: State biologists enhance turkey habitat at wildlife management areas by planting winter food, such as wheat, alfalfa or rye grass, and renewing plant succession by burning or disking. Brian Lovett, Outdoor Life, 3 Feb. 2020 Size: Disk up to 0.7 inch (1.7 centimeters) wide; stalk up to 0.3 inch (0.8 centimeter) tall IUCN Red List Status: National Geographic, 18 Nov. 2016

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'disk.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from Latin discus "discus, kind of plate, gong" borrowed from Greek dískos "discus," in Late Greek also "dish, round mirror, the sun's disk, gong" — more at discus

Verb

derivative of disk entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1664, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

circa 1884, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of disk was in 1664

Dictionary Entries Near disk

Cite this Entry

“Disk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disk. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

disk

1 of 2 noun
variants or disc
1
a
: the central part of the flower head of a typical plant (as a daisy or aster) of the composite family made up of closely packed tube-shaped flowers
b
: any of various rounded and flattened animal anatomical structures
especially : intervertebral disk
2
: a thin circular object: as
a
usually disc : a phonograph record
b
: a round flat plate coated with a magnetic substance on which data for a computer is stored
c
: CD
3
usually disc : a tilling implement (as a plow) with sharp-edged circular cutting blades
also : one of these blades
disklike adjective

disk

2 of 2 verb
variants or disc
: to cultivate (land) with a disc

More from Merriam-Webster on disk

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