operating system

noun

: software that controls the operation of a computer and directs the processing of programs (as by assigning storage space in memory and controlling input and output functions)

Examples of operating system in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The script contained commands for destroying file systems on either Unix-like or Windows operating systems. —Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 25 July 2025

Meta lost the race to control the operating systems for the mobile web era in the early 2000s and 2010s, which Apple and Google won. —Clare Duffy, CNN Money, 25 July 2025

This version of the Apple mobile operating system is one of the biggest changes to the iPhone’s user interface design since 2013, when Apple’s iOS 7 introduced a new, flatter look. —Kif Leswing, CNBC, 24 July 2025

Treating LLMs as a new kind of operating system can allow your specialized agents to run on them like applications. —Anil Pantangi, Forbes.com, 24 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1961, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for operating system

• cryptosystem
• ecosystem
• intersystem
• multisystem
• photosystem
• subsystem

Kids Definition

operating system

noun

: software that controls the operation of a computer and directs the processing of the user's programs (as by controlling input and output functions)