Wetware

noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The human brain or mind, often specifically as a computing element. Adapted as a biological parallel to hardware and software. It also used less commonly to refer to other organic or biological matter in the same context. In frequent use in the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction. slang, uncountable

    "What is not understood is the power hunger that resides in what the psychiatrist Kenneth Colby calls the "wetware"— the human brain about which we know very little except that it is composed of about 75 percent water."

  2. 2
    The underlying generative code for an organism, as found in the genetic material, in the biochemistry of the cells, or in the architecture of the body’s tissues. uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
livewaremeatware

Example

More examples

"What is not understood is the power hunger that resides in what the psychiatrist Kenneth Colby calls the "wetware"— the human brain about which we know very little except that it is composed of about 75 percent water."

Etymology

From wet + -ware.

Related phrases

science fiction

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.