The software won't run if the anti-piracy dongle isn't plugged in.
Source: tatoeba (8788352)
Dongle
//ˈdɑŋɡl̩//
Synonyms for "dongle" (23 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (5)
Noun(5 words)
Strong matches (7)
Related words (11)
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
1 entriesderived
1 entriesetymologically related_to
1 entrieshas context
2 entriesis a
1 entriesrelated to
1 entriesTranslations
29 translations across 14 languages.
Catalan
2 entries- connector noun (Any short wired connector)
- motxilla noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
Chinese Mandarin
1 entries- 加密狗 noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
Dutch
2 entries- dongel noun (Any short wired connector)
- dongel noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
Esperanto
1 entries- aparatara programprotektilo noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
Finnish
4 entries- dongeli noun (Any short wired connector)
- dongeli noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
- mokkula noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
- palikka noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
French
2 entries- clé électronique noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
- dongle noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
German
3 entries- Adapter noun (Any short wired connector)
- Dongle noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
- Kopierschutzstecker noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
Greek
1 entries- κλειδωτήρι noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
Japanese
1 entries- ドングル noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
Korean
1 entries- 동글 noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
Polish
1 entries- klucz sprzętowy noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
Russian
4 entries- аппара́тный ключ noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
- донгл noun (Any short wired connector)
- донгл noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
- свисток noun (Any short wired connector)
Spanish
1 entries- dongle noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
Swedish
4 entries- dongel noun (Any short wired connector)
- dongel noun (A hardware device utilized by a specific application for purposes of copy protection)
- dångel noun (Any short wired connector)
- hårdvarunyckel noun (Any short wired connector)
Sample sentences
4 total sentences available.
"Dongle" is a funny word, but be sure not to joke about it at the wrong place and time.
Source: tatoeba (13627777)
FreedomPop will offer three different flavors of broadband: a USB dongle that allows you to connect your computer to the internet, a WiFi hotspot device, and an iPhone case that allows you to override the phone's existing network and use it as a FreedomPop hotspot.
Source: wiktionary
Take the dongle, for example. It is the summit of copy protection, an explicit melding of software and hardware. Without the right hardware key—the dongle—plugged into the machine's parallel port, the software won't run.
Source: wiktionary
Keep exploring
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.