address

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   The specific details of a location, such as a street and number, where mail is delivered or a place can be found.

   Grammar: Has a plural; often followed by of or for: the address of the office, a return address.

   Patterns

   • home/email address
   • address of/for someone
   • change your address

   Write your address clearly on the package.

   What is the address of the museum?

   Please update your address after you move.

2. 2nouncountableformal

   A formal speech delivered to an audience, or the act of giving such a speech.

   Grammar: Has a plural; often followed by to: an address to the nation.

   Patterns

   • address to an audience
   • give/deliver an address
   • presidential address

   The president gave an address to the nation.

   Her address to the graduates was short and warm.

   The conference ended with a keynote address.

3. 3nouncountablecomputing

   A label or location used to find information in computing, such as a memory address or web address.

   Grammar: Has a plural; common in technical phrases: IP address, web address.

   Patterns

   • email/web address
   • IP address
   • address bar

   Type the web address into the address bar.

   The error points to an invalid memory address.

   Each device on the network has an IP address.

4. 4verbtransitive

   To speak directly and formally to a person or group, or to deal directly with an issue.

   Grammar: Takes an object that can be an audience or a problem: address the crowd, address the delay.

   Patterns

   • address an audience
   • address a problem/concern
   • address someone directly

   The mayor will address the crowd at noon.

   We must address the leaking roof before winter.

   She addressed each member by name.

Word forms

Common combinations

email address

Send the file to my email address.

return address

The return address was smudged by rain.

address a problem

The new policy addresses a long-standing problem.

keynote address

Her keynote address focused on clean water.

Synonyms and how they differ

residence

Residence means the place where someone lives; address is the written details used to find it.

speech

Speech fits the formal talk sense; address is often more official and delivered on a specific occasion.

handle

Handle can mean an online identifier, while address covers email, web, postal, and memory locations.

Word family

addressee noun

the person or organization something is addressed to

addressable adjective

able to be identified or targeted individually

addressability noun

the capacity to be addressed or targeted

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “address”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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