DictionaryAI

network

SayNET-wurk/ˈnɛt.wɝk/UK/ˈnɛt.wɜːk/

Pluralnetworks

Verbnetworks, networking, networked

8 meanings of network

Practice

  1. 1
    computer systemnouncountable
    A set of computers and other devices connected together so they can exchange data and share resources.

    The company's network spans three buildings and links hundreds of workstations.

    A poorly secured network exposes every connected device to attack.

    UsageDevices are on the network or connect to it, and files are shared over the network.

  2. 2
    nouncountable
    An interconnected group or system of any kind, whether of things, people, or parts.

    The river feeds a vast network of streams and irrigation channels.

    A network of spies passed messages across the border.

    UsageOften a network of something: a network of roads, tunnels or spies.

    Similarsystem, web, complex

  3. 3
    contactsnouncountable
    A group of people connected to one another socially, especially through occupational or business ties.

    A wide professional network can open doors that qualifications alone cannot.

    She spent years building a network of contacts across the publishing industry.

    UsagePeople build, grow or lean on a network; a support network is the people, often family and friends, who help.

    Similarcircle

  4. 4
    TV companynouncountable
    A group of affiliated television stations that broadcast shared programming supplied by a parent company.

    The network canceled the show after just one season.

    Three rival networks competed for the rights to broadcast the games.

    Similarbroadcaster, channel

    Note

    Broadcasting separates a network from the channels and stations that carry it. Lou Schuler, in his foreword to Nate Green's Built for Show (2008), remembers television as five channels: three networks, PBS, and an independent station running I Love Lucy reruns. The network supplies the shared programs, and its affiliated stations put them on the air. Sending one program out to all of them at once is the broadcasting verb.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Nate Green wrote Built for Show, first published in 2008. en.wikipedia.org
    • Lou Schuler's foreword recalls five television channels: three networks, PBS, and an independent station showing I Love Lucy reruns. en.wiktionary.org
  5. 5
    make connectionsverbintransitive
    To interact with others socially for the purpose of gaining connections or personal advancement.

    Young professionals are encouraged to network early in their careers.

    She networked tirelessly throughout the trade show.

    UsagePeople network with others at events, and the activity is networking.

    Similarsocialize, mingle, schmooze

  6. 6
    link computersverbtransitive
    To connect computers or the other parts of a system so that they can communicate or work together as a whole.

    They networked the lab's machines to a central server.

    Administrators network thousands of devices across a single campus.

Less common meanings

  1. 7
    broadcastverbtransitive
    To air a program simultaneously on all the stations and affiliates of a broadcasting network.

    The company networked the debate so every affiliate carried it live.

    Producers chose to network the finale, reaching viewers in every region at once.

    Similarbroadcast, simulcast

    Note

    The verb turns the organization into an action. To network a program is to send it to every station and affiliate at the same moment, rather than leaving stations to air it locally or at different hours. It depends on a broadcasting network, radio as well as the television network, since a program needs stations to carry it.

  2. 8
    meshnouncountable or uncountable
    A net-like fabric or structure made of fibers joined to one another at regular intervals, or the process of making such a thing.

    The beekeeper's veil is a fine network of black thread that keeps bees off her face while letting her see clearly.

    Spiders spin an intricate network of silk to trap their prey.

    Similarmesh, lattice, netting

    Note

    The literal sense shows most clearly how the word was built. It joins net, from Old English nett, to work, from Old English weorc, so it first meant work done in the manner of a net. It can stand as a material noun with no article, as when James George Frazer writes in The Golden Bough of "a mantle of network." Every figurative sense borrows its picture of crossing threads from this one.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of network apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

A compound of "net" and "work." The nonliteral senses grew out of the literal one and are now dominant. It is cognate with German "Netzwerk."

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts