What does "console" mean?
A stand-alone cabinet designed to stand on the floor; especially, one integrated with home entertainment equipment, such as a TV or stereo system.
Console
/ˈkɒn.səʊl/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A stand-alone cabinet designed to stand on the floor; especially, one integrated with home entertainment equipment, such as a TV or stereo system.
- Grammar: console is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: access, animate, assuage, assure.
- Useful contrasts: agonizing, anguished, desolate.
- Usage evidence: If the metal plate terminal of the game cassette is dirty it may be difficult for the game to start when the cassette is inserted into the game console.
How to use "console"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "console" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "console" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "console" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "console" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "console" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "access" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "console", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A stand-alone cabinet designed to stand on the floor; especially, one integrated with home entertainment equipment, such as a TV or stereo system.
"The film's music blared from the console."
- 2 housing for electronic instruments, as radio or television wordnet
- 3 A desk-like cabinet, table, or stand upon which controls, instruments, and displays are mounted.
- 4 an ornamental scroll-shaped bracket (especially one used to support a wall fixture) wordnet
- 5 An instrument with displays and an input device that is used to monitor and control an electronic system.
"The operating console of the new Glasgow Central cabin is divided into four sections, each at an angle to each other and each of which is normally under one signalman's control; [...]"
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 a scientific instrument consisting of displays and an input device that an operator can use to monitor and control a system (especially a computer system) wordnet
- 7 An instrument with displays and an input device that is used to monitor and control an electronic system.; The keyboard and screen of a computer or other electronic device.
- 8 a small table fixed to a wall or designed to stand against a wall wordnet
- 9 An instrument with displays and an input device that is used to monitor and control an electronic system.; Abbreviation of video game console. abbreviation, alt-of
"Consoles continue to gain traction in the video game market."
- 10 A storage tray or container mounted between the seats of an automobile.
"Could you put my phone in the centre console?"
- 11 An ornamental member jutting out of a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, often S-shaped.
- 12 A cantilever.
- 13 A decorative frame or support (in architecture, drawings, etc) around a heraldic shield.
"On an attractive console with two winged putti as supporters [...] is a marriage coat of arms : Dexter, the Paoli arms : Gules (base), a bend azure charged with five lilies gules, and or (chief); Sinister, the[…]"
Verb
- 1 To comfort (someone) in a time of grief, disappointment, etc. transitive
"However, she contained herself as best she might, consoled by the reflection that her reasoning had been justified by events."
- 2 give moral or emotional strength to wordnet
Antonyms
Example
"If the metal plate terminal of the game cassette is dirty it may be difficult for the game to start when the cassette is inserted into the game console."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "console"?
Common synonyms include: access, animate, assuage, assure, balm, bear up.
How do you use "console" in a sentence?
If the metal plate terminal of the game cassette is dirty it may be difficult for the game to start when the cassette is inserted into the game console.
How do you pronounce "console"?
Pronounced /ˈkɒn.səʊl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Borrowed from French console (“bracket”, noun), from consoler (“to console, to comfort”, verb). Sense of “bracket” either due to a bracket alleviating the load, or due to brackets being decorated with the Christian figure of a consolateur (“consoler”), itself perhaps a pun on the first sense (alleviating load). Originally used for the bracket itself, then for wall-mounted tables (mounted with a bracket), then for free-standing tables placed against a wall. Use for control system dates at least to 1880s for an “organ console”; use for electrical or electronic control systems dates at least to 1930s in radio, television, and system control, particularly as “mixer console” or “control console”, attached to an equipment rack. This was popularized in computers by mainframes such as the IBM 704 (1954) in terms such as “operator’s console” or “console typewriter”, and then generalized to any attached equipment, particularly for user interaction. The automotive sense harks back to earlier use as “support”.
Etymology 2
Borrowed from French consoler, from Latin cōnsōlor (“I console, I offer solace”), root from Proto-Indo-European *selh₂- (“mercy, comfort”) (whence also solace).