interface

noun

in·ter·face | \ˈin-tər-ˌfās

Definition of interface

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a surface forming a common boundary of two bodies, spaces, or phases an oil-water interface

2a : the place at which independent and often unrelated systems meet and act on or communicate with each other the man-machine interface

b : the means by which interaction or communication is achieved at an interface

interface

verb

interfaced; interfacing; interfaces

Definition of interface (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to connect by means of an interface interface a machine with a computer

2 : to serve as an interface for

intransitive verb

1 : to become interfaced

2 : to interact or coordinate harmoniously

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Examples of interface in a Sentence

Noun

the interface between engineering and science The software has a user interface that's easy to operate. We installed an interface between the computer and the typesetting machine.

Verb

interface a machine with a computer the point at which the two machines interface

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

There are actually a lot of interesting applications for these interfaces that aren’t in the brain. — Angela Chen, The Verge, "Why it’s so hard to develop the right material for brain implants," 30 May 2018 Global giants are now competing to develop applications for this interface. — The Economist, "India’s digital platforms," 3 May 2018 And the way everyone is using it is if there are interfaces that make sense and that there’s product that’s beautiful and effective. — Polina Marinova, Fortune, "Term Sheet -- Wednesday, May 2," 2 May 2018 Virtual reality still seems ripe for new control interfaces, though, and eye-tracking seems like a natural fit. — Hayden Dingman, PCWorld, "Tobii's eye-tracking tech is niche on PCs, but makes virtual reality feel like magic," 30 Mar. 2018 As touch-screen phones careered toward ubiquity, and as desktop interfaces and website design and mobile operating systems huddled together around a crude and adapting set of visual metaphors, the badge was ascendant. — John Herrman, New York Times, "How Tiny Red Dots Took Over Your Life," 27 Feb. 2018 Neither has a real advantage, but the Salomon Escape 7 ($135) is available with either interface and adds an ankle cuff for stability. — Matt Allyn, Popular Mechanics, "How to Start Cross-Country Skiing," 23 Jan. 2018 Although the ultimate aim of PREDICT is to avert future pandemics in the human population, Valitutto and Murray emphasize the importance of supporting the health of wildlife at the interface between animal and human. — Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian, "A Never-Before-Seen Virus Has Been Detected in Myanmar’s Bats," 11 July 2018 With a stable interface between the hardware and software parts of Android, everyone can work simultaneously to port a new version of Android to a piece of hardware. — Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, "Talkin’ Treble: How Android engineers are winning the war on fragmentation," 8 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Its ride-sharing platform could be used on its own or be tailored to interface with a partner, one person said. — Mark Bergen And Noah Buhayar, latimes.com, "GM puts pieces in place for self-driving taxis in San Francisco," 3 July 2018 From infancy, citizens live every moment of their waking lives with a heads-up display laid over their vision, offering information, data, and ways to remotely interface with the physical world. — Bryan Bishop, The Verge, "Netflix’s Anon is an augmented reality neo-noir nightmare," 4 May 2018 Autonomous-car industry analysts say the needs of disabled people are being discussed as designers figure out how users will interface with the cars, but there are many competing demands. — Jason Dearen, The Christian Science Monitor, "Researchers develop autonomous vehicles to help the blind," 13 Apr. 2018 Reservation, warranty, and warehousing systems had to interface with services running on mainframes, some running software that was decades old. — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, "The Dot-Coms Were Better Than Facebook," 13 Apr. 2018 If everything the brain does to interact with the world involves muscles, why not use the motor system to more directly interface mind and machine? — R. Douglas Fields, Scientific American, "Wristband Lets the Brain Control a Computer with a Thought and a Twitch," 27 Mar. 2018 Granted, there was some other tech in the case, specifically the parts that let those batteries interface with the device, but not some $660 worth. — Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, "Teardown of a $700 Battery Finds Staggeringly Little Inside," 22 Feb. 2016 Neurofeedback is used to train the brain and computer to interface with each other. — R. Douglas Fields, Scientific American, "Wristband Lets the Brain Control a Computer with a Thought and a Twitch," 27 Mar. 2018 Speaking of goals, a special version of this watch will actually be worn by the referees at this year’s World Cup to interface with the goal-line technology. — Paul Miller, The Verge, "World Cup referees will use Hublot’s new Wear OS watch to check for goals," 21 Mar. 2018

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

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Dictionary Entries near interface

Statistics for interface

Last Updated

2 Oct 2018

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for interface

The first known use of interface was in 1882

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More Definitions for interface

interface

noun

English Language Learners Definition of interface

(Entry 1 of 2)

: the place or area at which different things meet and communicate with or affect each other

: a system that is used for operating a computer : a system that controls the way information is shown to a computer user and the way the user is able to work with the computer

: an area or system through which one machine is connected to another machine

interface

verb

English Language Learners Definition of interface (Entry 2 of 2)

: to connect or become connected : to connect by means of an interface

See the full definition for interface in the English Language Learners Dictionary

interface

noun

in·ter·face | \ˈint-ər-ˌfās

Medical Definition of interface

: a surface forming a common boundary of two bodies, spaces, or phases interfaces between various tissues such as skin, fatty tissue, and muscle— H. P. Schwan