database

noun

da·​ta·​base ˈdā-tə-ˌbās 

ˈda-,

 also  ˈdä-

computers

: a usually large collection of data organized especially for rapid search and retrieval (as by a computer)

an online database

database transitive verb

Example Sentences

All of our customers' information was kept in a database.

Recent Examples on the Web

Police killed the highest number of people on record last year, according to the database. —Grace Hauck, USA TODAY, 27 May 2023

Moreover, there are questions about how multiracial groups should be coded in health databases and algorithms. —Anirban Basu, The Conversation, 26 May 2023

Parsons and his colleagues mapped the city on a grid and then consulted a database that included the footprint and total height of every building in the city. —Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 26 May 2023

The new law provides incentives for states to upload relevant juvenile records into the national gun buyer database. —Todd J. Gillman, Dallas News, 24 May 2023

Earlier this year, surveillance industry researcher IPVM tested a Verkada camera’s ability to scan a group of people and identify any matches with a database of faces. —Douglas Macmillan, Washington Post, 16 May 2023

The gunman was approved to work as a security guard in Texas from April 2016 until April 2020, when his license expired, according to his profile in the Texas Online Private Security database. —Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN, 8 May 2023

As tension and competition between the U.S. and China continues to mount, Beijing has recently taken steps to restrict overseas access to its databases and tighten its control over Western narratives relating to China. —Caitlin Mcfall, Fox News, 8 May 2023

The Allen outlet shooting marked the seventh mass shooting in Texas since the Uvalde massacre that killed 21 people, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. —Char Adams, NBC News, 7 May 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

circa 1962, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

database

noun

da·​ta·​base ˈdāt-ə-ˌbās 

ˈdat-,

 also  ˈdät-

: a collection of data that is organized especially to be used by a computer