terms of service
plural noun
: the legal terms (see term entry 1 sense 4) that set forth the nature, scope, and limits of a service (such as one offered through a website or an app) and the rules that the service's users must agree to follow
… Twitter users' complaints alerted the company that three of his messages violated the terms of service …—
Jake Tapper
Jake Tapper… most people have no idea what is signed away when they click "agree" to binding terms of service contracts—again and again on phones, laptops, tablets, watches, e-readers and televisions.—The New York Times
—abbreviation TOS
The New York TimesExamples of terms of service in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Almost immediately after oversight of TikTok’s US operations changed, misinformation started to spread about changes to the app’s new terms of service, including those that applied to location sharing and data collection, Fiesler said.
—Scottie Andrew, CNN Money, 27 Jan. 2026
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, previously said in a statement that accounts imitating other people go against their terms of service and are removed when flagged.
—Jessica Sager, PEOPLE, 26 Jan. 2026
The rideshare services don’t directly address safety protocols or requirements during inclement weather in terms of service or guidelines, either.
—Sasha Richie, Dallas Morning News, 23 Jan. 2026
Many of its principles were cribbed from other sources, like Apple’s terms of service and the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
—Nikita Ostrovsky, Time, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for terms of service
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Scottie Andrew, CNN Money, 27 Jan. 2026
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, previously said in a statement that accounts imitating other people go against their terms of service and are removed when flagged.
—Jessica Sager, PEOPLE, 26 Jan. 2026
The rideshare services don’t directly address safety protocols or requirements during inclement weather in terms of service or guidelines, either.
—Sasha Richie, Dallas Morning News, 23 Jan. 2026
Many of its principles were cribbed from other sources, like Apple’s terms of service and the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
—Nikita Ostrovsky, Time, 21 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for terms of service
Cite this Entry
“Terms of service.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terms%20of%20service. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.
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