personal computer

noun

Definition of personal computer

: a general-purpose computer equipped with a microprocessor and designed to run especially commercial software (such as a word processor or Internet browser) for an individual user

Examples of personal computer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Assange has since regained internet access, but only for his personal computer and phone. — Alex Ward, Vox, "Julian Assange is fighting the Ecuadorian government over a cat," 19 Oct. 2018 Dell Technologies is going public again, five years after going private to transform itself amid slowing personal computer sales. — Klint Finley, WIRED, "Dell Is Ready to Go Public Again. But Has it Really Changed?," 2 July 2018 This last injunction was popular advice for professional women before the rise of personal computers. — Elizabeth Emens, WSJ, "The Stickiness of ‘Life Admin’," 30 Dec. 2018 Memory chips, which are crucial components of personal computers and smartphones, are sold like commodities, and producers have historically had mixed luck matching supply with demand. — Jeran Wittenstein, The Seattle Times, "Record chip stock rally is fraying, reviving painful memories," 10 Sep. 2018 Five years later, in 1973, Xerox debuted the Alto, considered to be the first modern personal computer. — Cyrus Farivar, Ars Technica, "50 years on, we’re living the reality first shown at the “Mother of All Demos”," 9 Dec. 2018 Microsoft offers a similar service through Windows Hello to unlock personal computers. — Scott Thurm, WIRED, "Microsoft Calls For Federal Regulation of Facial Recognition," 13 July 2018 As a debt-laden tech giant still heavily reliant on selling personal computers, Dell was never going to be an easy sell as an initial public offering. — Dan Gallagher, WSJ, "Dell Deal Is as Good as It Gets for VMware," 2 July 2018 But starting in the 1980s, mass adoption of the personal computer sharply curtailed the need for paper printing and copying. — Shawn Tully, Fortune, "Paper Jam! How Carl Icahn And a Billionaire Partner Blocked Xerox’s Merger with Fujifilm," 21 May 2018

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