hardware

play

noun hard·ware \ ˈhärd-ˌwer \

Definition of hardware

1 :ware (such as fittings, cutlery, tools, utensils, or parts of machines) made of metal

2 :major items of equipment or their components used for a particular purpose

educational hardware

: such as

a :military equipment

b :the physical components (such as electronic and electrical devices) of a vehicle (such as a spacecraft) or an apparatus (such as a computer)

3 :an award (such as a trophy, medal, or cup) given in a sports competition

See hardware defined for English-language learners

See hardware defined for kids

Examples of hardware in a Sentence

She bought some new hardware for her system.
gathered together the hardware needed to set up a first aid station at the finish line for the marathon

Recent Examples of hardware from the Web

Smart Nora is a piece of hardware that raised $800,000 in 30 days on Kickstarter.

— atossa araxia abrahamian, The Cut, "Snoring Is an Annoyance Worth Taking More Seriously," 30 Aug. 2017
Our personnel and hardware are safe and everyone is taking appropriate precautions.

— marina koren, The Atlantic, "NASA's New Space Telescope Is in Harvey's Path," 28 Aug. 2017
Dorogusker isn’t expecting the store to be a big driver of hardware products, which are already on sale at retailers like Best Buy.

— selina wang, The Seattle Times, "Mobile-payment processor Square opens brick-and-mortar store," 24 Aug. 2017
In 1981, Clark, a computer scientist, co-founded Silicon Graphics, which brought forth high-end computing hardware and software and was an innovator in 3-D imaging.

— nancy dahlberg, miamiherald, "Legendary Silicon Valley entrepreneur launches his sixth company in South Florida," 23 Aug. 2017
Fiat Chrysler agreed to modify the software on the 2017 models and said no hardware changes will be required.

— ryan beene, Bloomberg.com, "Fiat Chrysler Can Resume Sales of Diesel Jeeps, Rams in U.S.," 28 July 2017
The Gross Diamond Center and the nearly century-old St. Mathews hardware are giving way to a new bank.

— james bruggers, The Courier-Journal, "Sentinel oak tree felled in St. Matthews to make way for parking lot, bank," 24 July 2017
One way to monitor local rainfall is with a rain gauge, available at any hardware store.

— beth botts, chicagotribune.com, "Plants may still need moisture, despite heavy rain," 19 July 2017
The tools that helped create the software boom are now proving useful to foster hardware manufacturing in the middle of cities.

— The Economist, "Man-buns and factory workUrban manufacturing in Brooklyn," 13 July 2017

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