# online

Pronunciation: US say "AWN-lyn" /ˈɔnlaɪn/; UK say "ON-lyn" /ˈɒnlaɪn/

## Adjective

1. Reachable or obtainable on the Internet, or supplied through it.
   - Simple: Offered or delivered to you through the Internet.
   - _The college offers several online courses for people who work during the day._
   - _He filed his tax return through an online portal in minutes._
3. Connected to the Internet or another computer network and able to communicate over it.
   - Simple: Connected to the Internet or another computer network.
   - _Half the office was still online after the power flickered._
   - _I can't be online during the flight, so send the file now._
4. Of a machine, factory, power station, or other system: running and working, or connected to the grid or network it serves.
   - Simple: Working and ready to use, or, for a power station, sending power to the grid.
   - _The second assembly line was finally online after weeks of maintenance._
   - _Heating won't be online in the new wing until the boiler passes inspection._
5. Deeply immersed in Internet culture, usually to an excessive degree. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Spending so much time on the Internet that it shapes how a person thinks and talks.
   - _The writer is so extremely online that her references baffle anyone over forty._
   - _Being terminally online, he treats every news story as fresh meme material._
6. Available on a computer system, even when it is not connected to a network.
   - Simple: Stored on a computer so you can use it, even with no Internet.
   - _The system keeps the last ninety days of logs online for quick searching and moves anything older to cheaper archive storage._
   - _To save space, the hospital keeps only two years of scans online and sends older ones to tape, which can take a day to restore._

## Adverb

2. While connected to the Internet, or while in a running, active state.
   - Simple: While connected to the Internet, or while a machine or system is running and working.
   - _Students submit their assignments online before midnight._
   - _The auction was held online so bidders worldwide could take part._

## Verb

7. To bring a system into an active, running state, often by connecting it to a network.
   - Simple: To start up a system so it becomes active and ready to use.
   - _After the outage, it took the night shift several hours to online the backup systems and get customers connected again._
   - _We plan to online the upgraded database cluster late tonight._

## Origin

Formed from "on" plus "line"; first recorded for connected systems in 1950.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/online (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).