app

What's an app? It's a computer software program. It can refer to a larger software application such as Photoshop or email, or it can refer to a smaller smartphone application, more commonly known as an app. A "killer app" is an extremely good program.

Historical perspective: "There's an app for that," said Apple in a spate of ads for its popular iPhone smartphone. With a reported 100,000 apps as of late 2009 (available on Android as well), free and paid apps ushered in an entirely new online experience:

• With an app you can make a dinner reservation
• Reserve an airplane seat
• Check your bank balance
• Read Excel spreadsheets
• Play Skee-ball
• Millions of the most popular apps are free
• Shazam identifies a song you're listening to and helps you buy it online
• Gas Buddy finds the cheapest fuel near your location
• Many cable and satellite companies offer apps that let you remotely program your DVR from anywhere in the world
• Other apps cost anywhere from 99 cents to a few dollars
• Save Benjis compares product prices across a number of stores
• Scrabble lets you play the classic game solo or with others, and so much more
• Rent housing, clothes, party supplies, tools, electronics, outdoor sporting equipment, baby items, even lawnmowers

Historical perspective: The term "app" was listed as Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society in 2010.