hardware

noun

hard·​ware ˈhärd-ˌwer 

1

: ware (such as fittings, cutlery, tools, utensils, or parts of machines) made of metal

2

: major items of equipment or their components used for a particular purpose

educational hardware

: such as

a

: military equipment

b

: the physical components (such as electronic and electrical devices) of a vehicle (such as a spacecraft) or an apparatus (such as a computer)

3

: an award (such as a trophy, medal, or cup) given in a sports competition

Synonyms of hardware

• equipment
• gear
• apparatus

Examples of hardware in a Sentence

She bought some new hardware for her system.

gathered together the hardware needed to set up a first aid station at the finish line for the marathon

Recent Examples on the Web

Starship will apparently only launch with docking hardware, and no crew cabin for the astronauts to enter. —Josh Dinner, Space.com, 10 June 2026

For the business models of OpenAI and Anthropic to work, the companies have to be able to generate enough revenue from token usage to pay for all the hardware and systems supplied by Nvidia, Cerebras and the cloud providers, and have enough money left over to pay for everything else. —Jordan Novet, CNBC, 10 June 2026

Since 2024, the company has accelerated development of embodied intelligence systems by integrating robot hardware, core components, perception technologies, AI decision-making engines, motion-control algorithms, and software ecosystems into a unified framework. —Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 10 June 2026

Want to save on hardware to use your wonderful new VPN with? —K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 10 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing hardware

• hardware cloth

Rhymes for hardware

• abwehr
• affair
• affaire
• airfare
• altair
• armchair
• aware
• beware
• bugbear
• carfare
• childcare
• compare

Kids Definition

hardware

noun

hard·​ware ˈhär-ˌdwa(ə)r 

-ˌdwe(ə)r

1

: articles (as fittings, cutlery, tools, utensils, or parts of machines) made of metal

2

: the equipment used for a particular purpose

computer hardware

military hardware