flash drive

noun

: a data storage device that uses flash memory

specifically : a small rectangular device that is designed to be plugged directly into a USB port on a computer and is often used for transferring files from one computer to another

called also thumb drive

Examples of flash drive in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Still, the portfolio isn’t a flash drive that someone could just walk from Education to Treasury. —Emma Green, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025

This flash drive is compatible with Android phones, iPhone 15, iPads, Macs, Windows PCs, as well as TVs and car stereos with USB-C ports. —PC Magazine, 7 Oct. 2025

The genre grew through messaging apps like Telegram and illicit networks like el paquete — the packet — a system where content is shared weekly via flash drives. —Ana González Vilá, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2025

He is suspected of stealing several items — including a flash drive that contained her unreleased music, future concert set lists and more — from choreographer Christopher Grant and dancer Diandre Blue’s Jeep Wagoneer on July 8. —Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1992, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for flash drive

• alive
• archive
• arrive
• beehive
• connive
• contrive
• deprive
• derive
• revive
• survive
• dive
• five

Kids Definition

flash drive

noun

: a data storage device that uses flash memory

specifically : a small rectangular device that is designed to be plugged into a USB port on a computer and is often used for transferring files from one computer to another

called also jump drive, thumb drive