floppy disk

noun

Updated on: 8 Apr 2018

Definition of floppy disk

: a thin plastic disk coated with magnetic material on which data for a computer can be stored

See floppy disk defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of floppy disk from the Web

The protruding floppy disk is the game’s power button, and there’s also a speaker to its right that barks out eight-bit audio just fine.

— chris welch, The Verge, "The Oregon Trail handheld game is a really fun nostalgia gadget," 24 Mar. 2018
Snail mail has gone the way of folding maps, modems, floppy disks, video tapes, answering machines, pay phones, typewriters, pagers and books.

— Newsweek, "Business," 14 Mar. 2018
That plot line hinges on the exchange of some highly inflammatory information stored on floppy disks, and yes, Virginia, there was a time not so many years ago that people, even spies, probably, relied on these disks to store their secrets.

— michael phillips, Detroit Free Press, "Review: ‘Red Sparrow’ never finds its wings," 1 Mar. 2018
While socializing, casually inquire with a server about the status of the city’s floppy disk repair services.

— alexandra misch, Esquire, "The Best Restaurants and Bars to Hit Up in Austin During SXSW," 1 Mar. 2018
Even later works like Brian Eno’s 1996 album Generative Music 1(released on floppy disk) still relied on simple, straightforward algorithmic instructions.

— gabriel nicholas, Slate Magazine, "These Stunning A.I. Tools Are About to Change the Art World," 11 Dec. 2017
But an actual floppy disk could offer a sense of physical history with old computers that's often forgotten in a technical world obsessed with the new.

— david grossman, Popular Mechanics, "What Happens When You Install MS-DOS On a 2017 PC," 9 Oct. 2017
But in recent years, DVDs have started going the way of the floppy disk, and Netflix, the golden child of the streaming revolution, has started catering less to the film nerd and more to the average bored consumer.

— zach schonfeld, Newsweek, "Netflix, Streaming Video and the Slow Death of the Classic Film," 15 Sep. 2017

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