laptop

/ˌlæpˈtɑp/

/ˈlæptɒp/

Other forms: laptops

Laptop is short for laptop computer. The big computer on your desk is a desktop, and the small one on your lap is a laptop. See what they did there? Now shoo that lapdog and get to work!

There are other kinds of portable computers, but a laptop usually has a screen that folds over the keyboard when you’re not using it. The earliest versions of laptops were made in the 1970s, and they've become lighter, thinner, more portable, and much more popular since then. The word laptop was coined in 1984, based on — you guessed it — desktop, which describes the heavier, non-portable computer.

Definitions of laptop

1. noun

   a portable computer small enough to use in your lap
   synonyms: laptop computer

   type of:

   portable computer

   a personal computer that can easily be carried by hand