open-source
adjective
1
a
of software
: having the source code freely available for possible modification and redistribution
an open-source operating system
b
: of, relating to, or promoting open-source software
the open-source movement/community
Instead, they opted for the open-source model, in which computer code is openly shared, allowing programmers to modify, improve and fix the software.—
Steve Lohr
Steve Lohr2
a
: publicly available for use by the community at large
open-source images
The team uses open-source materials such as obituaries in local newspapers and cemetery visits for its count.—Brendan Hoffman
Brendan Hoffman
b
: relating to or utilizing information that is publicly available
an open-source analysis
Since the advent of the internet, social media and smartphones, open-source intelligence has undergone a revolution as people willingly and publicly post vast amounts of information online. Actors outside of the traditional intelligence community have begun to take notice.—Nick Waters
Nick WatersExamples of open-source in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Lubin had visions of entire economies migrating onto the chain—stablecoins supporting fragile Third World currencies, open-source finance replacing the opacity of legacy banking.
—Clara Molot, Vanity Fair, 17 Mar. 2026
These launches come as other Chinese technology companies, including rival Tencent and startups such as Zhipu AI, have also raced to launch similar products built on OpenClaw, an open-source agentic platform developed by Peter Steinberger, who has since joined Sam Altman's OpenAI.
—Matthew Chin, CNBC, 17 Mar. 2026
Nvidia Jumps on the OpenClaw Bandwagon Despite the likely high price of the DGX Station, Nvidia sees a market for users who want to run AI models locally, pointing to the popularity of OpenClaw, an open-source autonomous AI agent that can run on a laptop or even a mini PC.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 16 Mar. 2026
Each lab used the same instruments and technologies, allowing Preta’s team to sift through a standardized set of open-source mass spectrometry data to do its own analysis.
—Susanne Rust
follow, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for open-source
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Clara Molot, Vanity Fair, 17 Mar. 2026
These launches come as other Chinese technology companies, including rival Tencent and startups such as Zhipu AI, have also raced to launch similar products built on OpenClaw, an open-source agentic platform developed by Peter Steinberger, who has since joined Sam Altman's OpenAI.
—Matthew Chin, CNBC, 17 Mar. 2026
Nvidia Jumps on the OpenClaw Bandwagon Despite the likely high price of the DGX Station, Nvidia sees a market for users who want to run AI models locally, pointing to the popularity of OpenClaw, an open-source autonomous AI agent that can run on a laptop or even a mini PC.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 16 Mar. 2026
Each lab used the same instruments and technologies, allowing Preta’s team to sift through a standardized set of open-source mass spectrometry data to do its own analysis.
—Susanne Rust
follow, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for open-source
Cite this Entry
“Open-source.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/open-source. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.
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